Find out about the tests you will do or have done on an MVP Performance Testing Day and how we benchmark you against our database of 10,000 REAL athletes.
Benchmarking scores and how to understand them
*Check out the glossary of terms here
Power
The height in cm between the athlete's feet and the ground at their highest point
The vertical jump has become a staple exercise of talent identification and performance monitoring due to its high accuracy and reliability to determine an athlete’s ability to produce power, particularly when performed on our dual force plates.
Strong links have been found to exist between an athlete’s vertical jump height and their sprinting ability and maximal strength. Furthermore, the vertical jump is a very natural movement, which makes it a valid assessment of sedentary people through to elite athletes.
Check out the Youtube video
Strength
This involves a static pull on a fixed bar that is positioned across the athlete's upper leg "mid-thigh".
The measurement is in Newtons which is then divided by the athlete's weight/mass to obtain a score relative to their body weight. It allows for a better comparison of "pound for pound" strength. The score is presented in N/Kg.
In recent years the isometric mid-thigh pull has become a globally renowned test for evaluating any aged athlete's maximal force-generating capacity due to its reliability, safety and simplicity.
The exercise is isometric in nature, meaning that there is no change in muscle length during the exercise, thus it is significantly less physically demanding compared to dynamic strength testing.
Forces are transmitted through the athlete’s feet and into the force plates, which provides us with a clear insight into an athlete’s current and potential strength characteristics via a range of variables.
This test has been found to correlate strongly with multiple performance variables such as vertical jump, sprint, strength and change of direction performance in sports such as football, rugby, netball, cycling, track and field, and weightlifting.
Check out the Youtube video
Speed
The time taken to run between the start line gates and the corresponding gates.
The MVP speed test assesses an athlete’s linear (straight line) speed.
Times are recorded at 10m, 20m, 30m and 40-yard intervals, providing a comprehensive profile of an athlete’s ability to accelerate from a standing start and hit near maximal speed.
Our electronic timing systems provide precise recordings each and every time.
Check out the Youtube video
Linear Speed (10m/20m/30m/40yard/40m)
Agility
The time that is taken to complete the test in seconds
The pro-agility test, also known as the 5-10-5 shuttle, assesses an athlete’s capacity to change direction in a pre-planned manner. Rapid direction changes are a decisive component of many sports, such as tennis, netball and American Football, which can result in a crucial break, save or score.
Check out the Youtube video
Reactions
From the bounce of the ball to an attack of an opponent, most sports require quick reactions to stay ahead of the competition.
Our reaction time test assesses the athlete’s ability to detect, process and respond to a light-based stimulus, whilst also challenging their peripheral vision.
This is a fun and engaging exercise which will challenge even the quickest of thinkers.
Check out the Youtube video
Aerobic Fitness
The level achieved in the yo-yo test.
The Yo-Yo test assesses your capacity to repeatedly perform high-intensity running.
You are required to run 20m shuttles in coordination with an audio signal, which rapidly increases in speed as the levels progress.
Unlike the boring beep test, you are given a 10-second active recovery period between each shuttle and the test is all over within a couple of minutes.
This test closely mimics the fitness requirements of most field sports, such as football, rugby and hockey and therefore forms an important part of our testing battery.
Elite-level football players have been known to run over 1200m (level 22.3) during the yo-yo intermittent recovery test level 2.
Check out the Youtube video
Benchmarking
You are ranked against people of your own age and gender of all the people MVP has tested over the years (over 10,000 athletes!) to show what your strong points are and the areas that you should focus on to improve
As you can see above. The writing in bold is your actual best score from the day and the metrics are shown just above the number (secs) in this case.
You may notice some (blank) entries. This is because you didn't complete the test or there is some information missing so we can do some calculations (in this case we didn't get the athlete's body weight so sprint momentum couldn't be calculated).
Then you can see the "dial". This is how we show benchmarking. The marker goes from left to right like a speedometer, with the highest possible being on the right. Each dial is broken up into 3 sections as described below.
Light Blue - The main area to focus on to improve. Concentrate your training efforts in this area. You have ranked in the lower 25% of all the athletes we have tested of your age and gender.
Blue - There are some small improvements to be made. Keep working on this in your training and you have ranked in the middle 50% of all the athletes we have tested of your age and gender.
Dark Blue - Keep going, a real strength of yours! Don't let this slip and make sure your focus is on the areas to improve. You have ranked in the top 25% of all athletes we have tested of your age and gender!
Check out our free training guides that are sports-specific.
Always consult a training or medical professional before embarking on any fitness regime.
Always remember that we have benchmarked you against people of your age and gender.
More benchmarking can be done by following the steps in this article
If you feel that your results are wrong or need some help, please contact us on
What do the tests look like? (external links to our Youtube channel)
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