A New Definition of Youth Fitness

Abstract

In brief: In the 1950s President Dwight D. Eisenhower focused the nation's attention on the apparently low physical fitness of its youth. A fitness test developed during that time evaluated motor fitness components such as speed, power, agility, cardiorespiratory endurance, and muscle strength/endurance. In the mid-1970s a trend toward health-related physical fitness began, and in 1980 a new test was developed that measured cardiovascular endurance, body composition, flexibility, and muscular strength and endurance. The author concludes that motor fitness is important for athletes, and health-related physical fitness is for everyone.