Current status of the step test in field evaluation of aerobic fitness: The Canadian home fitness test and its analogues

The development and current status of the Canadian Home Fitness Test and its analogues are briefly reviewed. Although originally designed to motivate subjects to greater physical activity, there have been persistent attempts to use the test for screening and exercise prescription. The prediction of maximal oxygen uptake obtained by the original test and its various modifications has much the same reliability and validity as other submaximal procedures for the estimation of peak aerobic power. Useful information can be derived regarding the fitness of large populations, but in the individual no more than a very crude categorization of fitness is possible.