Physical Testing

A few times a year, and especially in advance of selections for major events, the WNT players have to go through a battery of physical tests. I think for most players (myself included, maybe even to an extreme), this is a stressful process. The tests themselves aren't too bad, but I think it is the pressure of wanting to see improvements in yourself, and the competitiveness that comes from watching your teammates complete the tests as well. Plus, I'm not going to lie, I feel like years of being graded at school make me feel that numbers somehow define my self-worth. I realize that this is ridiculous, but I'm not sure if that kind of social conditioning can be undone.

Saturday we did the "easy stuff"- which was basically a bunch of measurements. Height, weight, arm span, hand span, and body fat percentage calculations. Sadly, I have not grown six inches since my last physical test in May, so I will continue to lose points for my height and really small hands. That sucks!

On Sunday was the real killer. We started off in the weight room with sit-ups, push-ups, chin-ups, and bench press. I improved in everything, except chin-ups, but maybe it's because I've been doing the overhand ones for my newest workout program. Or maybe my arms were just really tired from having done 55 push-ups in a minute just two minutes before that. Oh well.

After the arm stuff, we went to the field house to do the running stuff. We started off with the long jump and vertical, and then moved onto the 30m sprint, t-test, and ball throw. For the most part, I improved on everything, and don't dread any of those tests too much.

The final event, the beep test, is a test of endurance. This is by far the most difficult part of the testing for me, and the one that stresses me out the most. For those who have never done it, it is basically running between two lines (20m shuttle) as the beeps on the CD get faster and faster. You run until you can't run anymore. I tried to psychologically prepare myself for this by downloading the beep test and listening to it in my bed while I visualized. I realized that I failed miserably with this excercise as when I started to hyperventalate in my bed around level 6. I had chest pains and difficulty breathing when I was just thinking about it! Then I dreamed about beeps all night and didn't sleep. Note to self: I suck at visualizing.

When the real test began I couldn't breathe before it even started!! Thankfully, by the end of level 1 I had calmed down a bit and was able to reach my goal of improving a level from my last test. I still have a ways to go before I reach my ultimate goal, but I'm working on it.

All-in-all, I think I showed a general improvement, and also know where I want to continue to see improvement. I guess that's the goal of the physical testing for the athletes anyway, to give yourself an idea of how you're doing. I'm just glad it is only once every 3-4 months!