Background/Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between health-related fitness knowledge (HRFK) and physical fitness in 191 college-aged adults (79 females, 112 males) between the ages of 18-25 (M = 20.3yrs).
Method Participants' HRFK was tested using the FitSmart Test (Zhu et al., 1999). Physical fitness was assessed using a composite score of different fitness tests including push-ups, curl-ups, 1.5 mile run, vertical jump, BMI and waist circumference. Age, number of exercise science classes and years playing high school sports (HSS) also were examined as possible predictors of physical fitness.
Analysis/Results Sequential regression analyses were implemented to examine the relationships among the variables. College students' HRFK was low with an average HRFK score of approximately 67%. Results indicated there was a significant relationship between HRFK and physical fitness, R2 = .018, p = .037; and HRFK and fitness without body composition, R2 = .031, p = .009. HSS was the strongest indicator of physical fitness, R2 = .110, p < .001; and fitness without body composition, R2 = .169, p < .001. When combined, HSS and HRFK explained 20% of the variance in physical fitness.
Conclusions Overall, results indicated HRFK is significantly associated with physical fitness in a college-aged sample population and may be important to facilitate future fitness and physical activity behaviors. Future research should examine the impact of HRFK on fitness and physical activity behaviors in a normal adult population sample. In addition, these results support previous literature indicating physical activity history (i.e., HSS) impacts current behaviors.