Practical Tests for Measuring Muscular Strength Only a few tests of strength that are practical in terms of time, equipment, and cost are presented here. When special testing instruments are necessary for these tests, the cost is unreasonable for most schools. Tests are grouped under the headings "Isotonic Strength Tests," "Spring Scale Strength Tests," and "Isometric Strength Tests."
Evaluating Your Isotonic Strength The objective of isotonic strength tests is to measure strength through a complete range of movement. There are a number of valid methods for evaluating muscular strength; however, all of these methods require some type of equipment. Perhaps the most commonly used method is to determine your 1-RM. This is accomplished by finding the maximum amount of weight you can lift in a particular exercise. For example, if you are doing a bench press, you first warm-up with a weight you can easily handle for 8-10 repetitions. Rest for approximately five minutes, and then do another warm-up set with a weight you can easily lift for 5 repetitions. After these initial warm-up sets, load the bar to approximately 70 percent of what you believe to be the maximum amount of weight you can bench press, and do three repetitions. Rest approximately 5 minutes, and load the bar to 85% of what you believe to be the maximum weight you can lift. Do one repetition. After resting for approximately 5 minutes, do one repetition with the bar loaded at 95% maximum, and finally make your attempt at 100%. Do I need to say, “Don’t try more than 100%”? Okay, don’t try more than 100%. Here is something else you need to consider when evaluating your strength. As mentioned, there is no single test that correlates very highly with total body strength. This is probably due to the fact that strength is body specific. Therefore, in order to measure total body strength, each muscle group would have to be tested independently. To do this, you first find an exercise in which the muscle you want to test is the prime mover, and then simply determine your 1-RM in that exercise. As noted, the most common exercises used for evaluating strength are the bench press, squat, deadlift, and pull downs. The scores on these four lifts are generally considered a predictor of total body strength.
Resting Between Sets Although many teachers and coaches pay little attention to their rest periods between sets, they are of paramount importance. When a muscle is stressed to near maximum exertion and not given an opportunity to recover, it will fatigue. In turn, fatigue will reduce strength by decreasing the force and extent of muscle contraction. This decrease in the contractile power of the muscle is brought about in two ways. First, fatigue restricts the muscle from bringing into play all of its contractible fibers. Second, it decreases the contractibility or force of contraction of the muscle fibers that are involved. For the above reasons, it is important that you determine how much rest your muscles need between sets. Actually, there are a number of important factors to consider before reaching a decision as to how long you should rest between sets. One factor is the restoration of energy to the muscle. Now, this is going to be a little technical, but nothing you can’t handle. No!..No!...don’t turn the page…it’s not that bad. I promise. Besides, it’s important information. So, take your time and pay attention. The immediate source of energy for every movement an athlete performs comes from the breakdown of the chemical compound adenosine tri-phosphate (ATP). This substance is stored within