Performance diagnostics creates a performance profile through which strengths, abilities and weaknesses of the examined patients are determined. It is a branch of medicine. Mainly, this performance measurement is used in sports medicine. However, there is also a psychological performance measurement. The results provide information about what physical and psychological performance patients are capable of.
What is performance diagnostics?
Performance diagnostics creates a performance profile through which strengths, abilities and weaknesses of the examined patients are determined. Performance diagnostics provide athletes and patients with an overview of their current endurance performance. The diagnostics records the pulse behavior, measures the strengths and weaknesses in training, performs spiroergometry (measurement of respiratory gases) and determines the lactate concentration in the blood. The examination is performed on special ergometers and in field tests. In order to make the performance diagnostics more efficient, it is important to bring any existing examination findings (e.g. ECG, MRI, X-ray, ultrasound), medication lists or operation reports. The patient must not undergo any intensive training, unusual muscular exertion or competition prior to the examination, as these physical stresses can falsify the examination results. The last light and low-fat meal is two to three hours before the examination.
Objectives and basics
Performance diagnostics determine physical health as well as personal and mental performance. A large number of different measurement palettes allow this performance survey to be performed. Before the examinations are performed, the question of the goal arises. Human performance is determined by various factors such as physique, height, weight and constitution. Muscle strength, endurance, water-electrolyte balance, cardiovascular system, temperature regulation, respiration and metabolism are vital functions that are indispensable for the implementation of all the performances that people perform on a daily basis. Mental state, current life situation, diseases and medications can also affect performance. The range of examinations varies depending on the objective. Performance diagnostics for athletes and high-performance athletes require more elaborate methods than when a healthy person or hobby athlete wants to know his or her performance spectrum and which sports are suitable for him or her. Performance diagnostics is equally suitable for people with manifest diseases such as obesity, diabetes mellitus as well as arterial hypertension. In this way, physicians can determine how severely their performance is impaired and whether they develop new symptoms under physical stress or whether the chosen therapy is effective. In addition to sports medicine, areas of application are primarily prevention and rehabilitation. For these patients, exercise therapy is induced. In order to prescribe a suitable and health-promoting exercise therapy, physicians subject patients to a performance diagnosis, preferably by means of a lactate test or spiroergometry (ergospirometry). With this examination, they determine the patient’s individual anaerobic threshold. Performance diagnostics is also recommended for children and adolescents who participate in sports in a club or training group. In school sports, the collection of these individual health data is induced, as in this way any existing but previously undetected weaknesses (e.g. in motor skills) can be counteracted in good time through sensible therapeutic measures. Athletes who decide to engage in a demanding, individual sport such as mountaineering, paragliding, marathon or rock climbing are advised to have an individual performance survey performed.
Diagnosis and examination methods
Large motor movement coordination is the fundamental psychophysical ability that enables people to learn and perform all movements and sports. This coordination controls the interaction of all other movement components. It forms the basis for meaningful performance assessment. The patient brings sports gear and sneakers to the performance diagnostics, as the medical professionals perform the examination by means of different types of training.In order to be able to optimally transfer the test data to the training performed in each case, the sports physicians perform sport-specific analyses on ergometers (ergometry) specially designed for performance diagnostics under laboratory conditions. Cyclists and triathletes complete a bicycle ergometry on high-performance ergometers. Triathletes, runners and ball athletes undergo treadmill ergometry. Rowers undergo rowing ergometry (Concept II), while canoeists, boxers and disabled athletes undergo hand-crank ergometry. The treadmill, bicycle and rowing check includes a general health examination, body fat determination, lung function diagnostics with parallel breath analysis, an ECG, a urine test, a lactate test and blood pressure behavior during stress, rest and recovery. Field tests for groups are performed for runners, swimmers and all game sports. In the field test, a lactate stage test determines the muscular stress of the athletes. On this basis, the individual training heart rate is determined, which enables targeted training control. Athletes are pushed to their limits with a gradual increase in speed. At the end of each training frequency, a drop of blood is taken from the patient’s earlobe (capillary) to measure lactate. At the same time, heart rate is measured throughout the training session. The field test uses constant distances under real conditions (e.g. stadium laps, running tracks). Several athletes are examined at the same time. This test is therefore well suited for performance diagnostics in team sports. The running speed, pulse rate and lactate value in the blood are then measured. The lactate curve can be used to determine the individual heart rates for interval training, endurance training or fat metabolism training. The field test is used for important diagnostics before a competition, the preparation of a competition phase as well as the season preparation. By repeating the test, the effects of an endurance training can be determined so that performance can be built up over a long period of time. An improvement in performance in the anaerobic and aerobic range is demonstrable. For children and adolescents between the ages of 5 and 14, the “Body Coordination Test” (KOT) is carried out, which records the entire movement repertoire in order to identify psychomotor disorders and movement conspicuities and to determine the special need for support. The “Wiener Koordinationspacours” records the performance spectrum of young people between the ages of 11 and 21. This test is preferably used for aptitude tests at scientific universities (sports studies) and sports high schools. Applicants for military and police service also have to undergo this performance assessment. Molecular performance diagnostics identifies genetically determined parameters of athletic performance and deals with the regulation and influence of cellular signaling pathways by endogenous and exogenous influences. It is used for performance optimization and detects the presence of different ACTN3 molecules that affect the predisposition to become an endurance athlete or sprinter. In the field of strength sports, performance diagnosis takes place through isokinetic muscle strength measurement, force plates, displacement and time meters, accelerometers and dynamometers. Another subfield is psychological performance diagnostics, which are mainly used in vocational preparation and pre-vocational measures as well as in reintegration. The doctors perform cognitive performance potential and manual-motor tests. Basic knowledge of German and mathematics is assessed in the orienting school performance test. Psychological questionnaires are used to record problem areas.
