Balance:

Motor sensory control.

An important area of fitness that is often ignored in the gym, is improving Motor Sensory Control. This is a technical term used to describe your body’s ability to react to the three sensors it uses in maintaining balance - the eyes, inner ear and proprioceptors. Good motor sensory control not only helps avoid injuries, but it also helps you perform better at your sport  (e.g. maintain balance whilst kicking a ball).



Getting the best balance results:

Try to relax during the test and focus on the target on the screen throughout.

To ensure results of the balance test are comparable, you should keep your hands on your hips every time you complete the test. It also makes the test a little more challenging and more sensitive. Make sure to just lift your foot off the floor rather than tucking your foot behind the opposite leg.

If you lose your balance, or are not happy with your score, you can try again immediately after the test by pressing the “try again” button on the screen.



Press Ups:

Upper body strength & endurance.

Muscular strength is important at all ages. Lack of upper body strength can lead to various  age-related diseases such as sarcopenia and osteoporosis which can lead to health issues. 

We can also measure muscular endurance by measuring how long it takes you to complete each press up. We then can see how much you slow down over the test period, in order to calculate your fatigue rate.



Getting the best press up results:

It’s all about technique! To obtain consistent results, you should perform the test with your back straight and with no bend at the hips or knees. Start with your arms straight and lift up onto your toes. When FitQuest tells you to start the test, lower your body as far as possible without touching the plate and push back up into your start position.

The results are based on several parameters including how many press ups you can perform in 15 seconds and the effort made (work done) to make the press ups based on your weight, applied force and speed. We also measure your fatigue rate.



Jump Test:

Lower body strength & explosive power.

Muscular strength is important at all ages. Lack of lower body muscular strength  can lead to age related disease, which can lead to serious health issues. 

There are many aspects that affect your jump height including your weight, your explosive muscle power and your jump technique. FitQuest takes into account your body mass and jump height when calculating your explosive muscle power. If you have a poor jump height, that does not mean that you have poor muscle power; it depends on your body mass. Therefore, measuring your explosive muscle power is more important than your actual jump height.



Getting the best jump results:

To ensure you're able to consistently track your progress, you should always perform the jump test with your hands on your hips. Bend down to 90 degrees and drive up through your feet to jump as high as possible. Perform the movement all in one, a counter-movement jump, to generate the greatest explosive power from your legs.


Step Test:

Speed ability & lower body endurance.

FitQuest measures speed ability using the Step Test. This test requires you to run on the spot as fast as possible for 30 seconds. This eliminates the first phase of accelerating the body to maximum speed. 

FitQuest measures the time between each step, so we can calculate your fatigue by how much you have slowed down throughout the whole test.

We also measure every step and counts how many you have made over the test duration.



Getting the best step test results:

Run on the spot with one foot on either side of the platform (not both on one side). If you step too high, this will be slower than if you just lift your foot off the platform.

Technique plays a big role, so it's a good idea to practice at  running on the spot before you take the test. Rarely, some people can lose their rhythm during the step test and this reduces the overall score, so practice is important in order to get a fair result of your speed ability.



Heart Rate Recovery:

Cardiovascular fitness.

Heart Rate Recovery is calculated by measuring your heart rate immediately after the step test and then again 60 seconds later. The difference between the two readings is your HRR result.

The fitter your cardiovascular system is, the quicker your heart recovers from the exertion. 



Getting the best heart rate recovery results:

FitQuest measures your heart rate through the multifunctional handles. This is more convenient than using a heart rate monitor, especially if you don’t own one. However, measuring your ECG through your hands is more difficult than using electrodes close to your heart. The biggest problem is the electrical signals (EMG) generated by the muscles in your arms. This so called noise, which can interfere with the small ECG signals that we want to measure.

Therefore, to obtain the best results, try not to tense the muscles in your upper body, whilst ensuring full hand contact with the integrated electrodes in the handles. The single most important factor to obtaining a good result is to ensure that you grab the handles as soon as you finish the step test so that your heart has not had any time to recover. Make sure you hold the handles for the full 60 seconds without letting go.