Assembling and Verification of a Fitness Test Battery for the Recruitment of the Swiss Army and Nation-Wide Use

The aim of this study was to assess the reliability, validity and feasibility of selected physical performance tests, to compile a new fi tness test battery based on these results and to obtain standard values for young men. 79 men (20.3 ± 1.1 y) performed the tests for the reliability part, while 60 men (20.3 ± 1.1 y) completed the tests for the validity part of the study. Feasibility was confi rmed by 25 sport experts who conducted the test battery among 1704 men (19.5 ± 1.0 y). For standard values, the data of 12 862 men (19.9 ± 1.0 y) were collected. Based on the reliability and validity data, the following 5 tests were selected for the fi tness-test battery: 1) progressive endurance run, 2) seated 2-kg-shot put, 3) standing long jump, 4) trunk muscle strength test and 5) 1-leg standing test. The reliability and validity of the selected performance tests were suffi cient to very good (r = 0.50–0.90 and r = 0.64–0.91, respectively). The suggested fi tness-test battery can be applied among large groups.