Fitness Gram

FITNESSGRAM was developed by The Cooper Institute in an effort to provide physical educators with a tool that would facilitate communicating fitness testing results to students and to parents. The assessment measures three components of health-related physical fitness that have been identified as important to overall health and function:

aerobic capacity;
body composition; and
muscular strength, endurance, and flexibility.

FITNESSGRAM®helps you achieve your goals byapplyingeasy-to-use technology to

conduct fair and accurate fitness assessments and easily record the results,
set individualized goals for students,
give students responsibility for managing and recording their own activities,
create detailed reports of progress and results for students, parents, and administrators
help students and parents understand the value of physical activity

ACTIVITYGRAM, introduced in 1999, is a behaviorally based physical activity assessment tool. It provides a three-day record of activities performed during each 30-minute period. The report provides information in the following areas:

Total number of minutes of activity each day as compared to a goal of 60 minutes
Periods of time each day spent in activity
Types of activity

FITNESSGRAM/ACTIVITYGRAM enables you to promote awareness about the importance of physical activity and fitness, assess the fitness and activity levels of children in grades K-12, and help them develop patterns of lifelong, health-promoting physical activity. (The program is also appropriate for use with young adults up to age 30.)

Teachers, students, and parents have been using FITNESSGRAM for more than two decades to understand, assess, and help meet students' fitness needs.

MUSCULAR STRENGTH AND ENDURANCE

Curl Up

– Measuring abdominal strength and endurance, students lie downwith knees bent and feet unanchored.Set to a specified pace, students complete as many repetitions as possible toa maximum of 75

FLEXIBILITY

Sit and Reach

– Testing one leg at atime, students sit with one kneebent and one leg straight against a box and reach forward

Trunk Lift

– Measuring trunk extensor strength, students lie facedown and slowly raise their upper body long enough for the testerto measure the distance between the floor and the student’s chin

AEROBIC CAPACITY

PACER

(Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run) – Set to music, apaced, 20-meter shuttle run increasing inintensity as time progresses

Assessments

FITNESSGRAM

FITNESSGRAM assesses three areas of health-related fitness listed previously. Many test items offer multiple options, so you can choose the method you prefer. Each score is evaluated against criterion-referenced standards that have been established to indicate levels of fitness corresponding with health. Standards have been set for boys and for girls based on age. The use of health-related criteria helps to minimize comparisons between children and to emphasize personal fitness for health rather than goals based solely on performance. Since only modest amounts of exercise are needed for obtaining health benefits, most students who participate in physical activity almost every day will be able to achieve a score that will place them in the Healthy Fitness Zone.

The assessment items are as follows:

Aerobic Capacity

PACER test
One-mile run/walk
Walk test (ages 13 or greater)

Body Composition(may select one option)

Percent body fat (calculated from triceps and calf skinfolds)
Body mass index (calculated from height and weight)

Muscular Strength, Endurance, and Flexibility

Abdominal strength and endurance (curl-up)
Trunk extensor strength and endurance (trunk lift)
Upper body strength and endurance (choose from push-up, modified pull-up, and flexed arm hang)
Flexibility (choose from back-saver sit-and-reach and shoulder stretch)