FAA Office of Aerospace Medicine
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute

Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-63/06

Title and Subtitle: A simple field test for the assessment of physical fitness

Report Date: April 1963

Authors: Balke B

Abstract: An essential factor in air safety is the physical and mental fitness of all personnel directly involved in operations of general, commercial, and military aviation. Standardization and classification of fitness, however, have not been established to a degree that would allow for much more than a differentiation between normal health and pathological disturbances.

Testing a large population is important for the establishment of standards requires test procedures of simple design but capable of rendering results which a re comparable to those of more complex and time consuming laboratory tests. Experiments have indicated
that a 15-minute best-effort run can be utilized as a substitute for a standard work capacity test in the laboratory. This type of test constitutes a satisfactory assessment of the potentially available functional reserves.

Key Words: physical fitness test, aerobic-anaerobic work capacity, oxygen requirements, fitness classification

No. of Pages: 12