Motorsports
Sports > Motorsports > Fitness > Testing
Fitness Testing for Motor Sports
As discussed in this article about fitness for motorsports, fitness plays a very important part in the success of any motor sport athletes. In order to measure and monitor the changes in fitness, they should undertake fitness assessment on a regular basis.
The Australian Institute of Sport has a yearly camp for motorsport riders, in which a small part is fitness testing. In 2008 at the Elite Rider Camp for Road Racing, Dirt Track and Speedway athletes, the fitness tests included the following:
-
Anthropometry: height, weight and skinfolds tests were conducted to measure any excess fat levels that could be hindering their performance, and the measurements are also useful for comparison to any future measures.
-
Power: The vertical leap test was used to measure leg power, and to get an indication of general body power. Road Racer Jordan Burgess had one of the highest leaps, achieving an excellent 61cm.
-
Speed: 20 meter sprint test was used to measure running speed. Jordan Burgess was the fastest with 2.99 seconds.
-
Aerobic Fitness: The common beep test was used to measure aerobic or endurance fitness. This is important in order to stay alert and fresh during long races. Blake Leigh-Smith (Road Racing) took the honors reaching level 14.2.
Honda Girls on the Gas
An annual Australian women's motocross event is the Honda Girls on the Gas competition. The scoring for this event is based on five categories: Rider Technique, Public Speaking, Lap Time, Fitness (Shuttle Run), Race 1 (5 laps), Race 2 (5 laps). In the fitness component, the 20m shuttle run is used. The results for this component in 2009 were as follows:
1st Jess Gardiner NSW 8.3
2nd Jess Moore WA 8.1
3rd Courtney Knight Qld 7.8
4th Jackie Gibbs SA 6.5
5th Emily Flint Tas 5.8
6th Jess Heaney Vic 5.7
