From Super Bowl Sunday to Combine Season: Rethinking Athleticism and Testing
/Originally written by Joe Eisenmann, PhD
Updated by Volt HQ February 2025
With the Super Bowl behind us, the focus shifts from game-day performance to evaluating and developing athleticism. The NFL Combine isn’t just a showcase of talent—it sparks discussions on athlete testing, performance metrics, and training methods that can extend beyond sports, influencing general fitness, tactical performance, and other high-demand physical fields.
In this article, Dr. Joe Eisenmann, a veteran sport scientist and strength coach, explored the evolution of athletic testing—its history, methodologies, and the ongoing debate over composite scoring—before diving into how today’s technology can help make testing more insightful and actionable than ever.
While originally centered on athletic performance, the principles of physical assessment, strength development, and performance optimization apply to anyone striving to improve—whether it's athletes, clients pursuing fitness goals, or tactical professionals who rely on strength, agility, and endurance in high-stakes environments. Adaptations may be necessary to align with specific operational or personal goals, but the foundational concepts remain universal across all fields of human performance.
Let’s dive in…
Commonly overheard from coaches and trainers:
“My Kids Need to be More Fit and Athletic”
Response from Dr. Joe Eisenmann:
What does this statement really mean? What is the definition of athletic or fitness or athleticism? Are there similarities between fitness and athleticism? And, how do we measure it beyond the coaches’ eyeball test? And, finally, how do we report it to the athlete so it makes sense to them?
Snippets from Dr. Joe Eisenmann’s original article “What is Athleticism and How is it Tested? Are We Re-inventing the Wheel?”:
A Definition and History of Athleticism
In the field of Kinesiology (including strength & conditioning and coaching) the evaluation of human movement capacity has a long-standing tradition. In fact, over one hundred years ago, Dr. Dudley Sargent of Harvard University published The Physical Test of a Man highlighting the vertical jump. Chances are, you've encountered the Sargent Jump Test.
But, can a single test really represent an individual’s physical capacity? Many will argue no, a single test can not give a complete picture of athleticism! Note: This was even recognized at the time Dr. Sargent’s article was published.
No matter your approach to fitness and athleticism, you’ll likely agree—athleticism isn’t a one-dimensional concept. It can't be captured by a single test, a fact even reflected in the dictionary’s definition—
*Note: The definition says physical qualities — plural: strength, fitness and agility.
**Note: “Fitness” is listed as a quality but fitness also has many factors. We could deduce that they are equating fitness with aerobic fitness or cardio-respiratory endurance.
Since athleticism (or fitness) can’t be measured by a single test, scholars and practitioners have developed test batteries, often combining results into a composite score—much like an IQ score, which quantifies multiple cognitive abilities.
For a deeper look into the history of athletic testing to understand why we don’t need to reinvent the wheel, read the original article here. And now, let’s shift our focus to the current definition of athleticism and how data-driven insights are shaping the way we measure and develop it today.
Current Definition of Athleticism
The dimensions of fitness, physical capacity, general motor ability and athleticism considered throughout the past century are in line with the current definition of athleticism within the NSCA Position Statement on Long-Term Athletic Development.
“Athleticism is the ability to repeatedly perform a range of movements with precision and confidence in a variety of environments, which require competent levels of motor skills, strength, power, speed, agility, balance, coordination, and endurance.”
From Husker Power to Nike SPARQ: How Athleticism is Scored Today
We could spend endless time debating the definition and dimensions of athleticism—or is it fitness?—but let’s stay on track. Instead, let’s look at two widely recognized examples that may resonate with modern sport coaches, strength & conditioning professionals, and trainers alike.
Renowned strength and conditioning coach, Boyd Epley, founder of the National Strength and Conditioning Association, and Volt strength advisory board chairperson, pioneered efforts not only in strength and conditioning but also athlete testing within the Nebraska Husker Power program. Epley and his colleagues developed the Performance Index, a composite score incorporating the bench press, hang clean, squat, vertical jump, and 40-yard dash to assess athletic performance.
Similarly, the Nike SPARQ rating— standing for Speed, Power, Agility, Reaction and Quickness — has often been referred to as the “SAT” for athletes. This system includes a general performance assessment such as the 40-yard dash, kneeling med ball throw, pro-agility, and vertical jump, along with some sport-specific assessments.
When it comes to the composite score, Fleishman, who also developed the “Fitness Index,” noted “many instructors and students feel the need for a single index to summarize overall performance.” However, “the most useful information is that provided by the separate tests, since this allows the pinpointing of strengths and weaknesses.”
Which brings us to the next key piece—how to visually represent and communicate athlete testing data effectively.
Bringing Athlete Testing to Life with Data Visualization
In today’s world, where eye-catching content dominates, presenting athlete data in plain spreadsheets just doesn’t cut it. A list of bench, squat, and vertical jump numbers may hold value, but it lacks impact. That’s where data visualization (or data viz) comes in—transforming raw numbers into clear, engaging insights through charts and graphics.
Visual representation enhances understanding and retention, making it easier for athletes and coaches to interpret progress and performance trends. While advanced software exists, even simple tools like Excel can bring numbers to life. Many coaches are turning to radar plots (or spider graphs) to display strengths and weaknesses at a glance—an easy and effective way to improve athlete engagement with their data.
Measuring Strength: Volt’s Approach
In Volt, foundational lifts like the bench press, squat, and clean — what we refer to as “Strength Numbers” — can be measured once it is safe to do so. Tracking an athlete's upper, lower, and total body strength enables Volt to safely recommend personalized weight targets for future movements.
But we’re committed to advancing sports performance training even further. Our sports science and data teams sought to expand beyond traditional Strength Numbers, leveraging Smart Sets™, a feature powered by our Cortex® AI. This innovation allows for a dynamic visual representation of an athlete’s progress across multiple strength movement categories, delivering deeper insights into performance.
Athleticism is rarely defined by a single measure—each dimension consists of multiple components. Strength, for example, is movement-specific, so exercises are categorized into Explosive, Upper Body, Lower Body, Core, and Auxiliary. Upper body movements are further divided into pushes and pulls across vertical and horizontal planes, while lower body strength falls into two-leg push, single-leg push, and hip extension movements.
Again, based on our Smart Sets™ feature and the ability to estimate 1-rep maxes for a number of movements, it is possible to produce a progress report within each movement. From this information, coaches and athletes (and Cortex® AI) can evaluate and make adjustments to training.
Beyond the Physical: The Full Scope of Athletic Performance
It is important to look at athletic performance as the sum of four domains: the physical, technical (sport-specific skills), tactical (sport IQ, X’s and O’s), and mental domains.
Although a GPA (similar to a composite athleticism score) might be 3.12, it doesn’t tell the full story—we need to assess performance across all subjects, from math and science to literature, social studies, and physical education.
Ultimately, athlete performance and athleticism are made up of many interconnected factors, each playing a role within its respective domain. To get a true picture, every piece of the puzzle must be considered.
Critical Takeaways for Athletic Testing and Training
When assessing and analyzing athlete performance through physical testing, keep these key considerations in mind:
Why are you testing? What is the purpose of testing?
What tests are you selecting? Are they reliable and valid? Do they match your objectives?
Have you organized the testing protocol?
How will you evaluate the test data?
How will you present the data to the athlete?
Are you also considering the other domains of performance when evaluating the overall athletic performance?
“What gets measured gets managed”
Learn more about Dr. Eisenmann | @Joe_Eisenmann
