is your conditioning actually improving?
The numbers may go up in lifts, you might string more reps of skill movements, but that doesn’t always reflect your conditioning capacity. Let’s unpack how you can test it clearly, what the science says, and how to interpret meaningful change.
It’s tempting to think: “My conditioning is getting better because I’m doing more unbroken muscle-ups” or “I can clean heavier now, so my engine must be better.” But here’s the issue:
Skill movements and heavy loads carry technical demands. An athlete might outperform their old self in a gymnastic or lifting test because their technique improved, not necessarily because their aerobic/anaerobic capacity improved.
Research on aerobic capacity shows that improvements in maximal oxygen consumption (VO₂max) or aerobic fitness are major indicators of physical capacity in sport. *
Suppose you test only loaded, skill-heavy workouts. In that case, you may miss the proper foundation of conditioning: the ability to sustain high-quality movement, effort, and recovery across time, fatigue, and minimal technique demands.
Use “unskilled, unloaded” tests to assess raw capacity. The more straightforward way to know if your conditioning is improving is to remove as many confounding variables as possible — take out heavy loads, demanding skills, and focus purely on capacity.
Key guidelines:
Use simple tools: running, rowing, biking — or even a mix. The simpler the movement, the fewer “skill” or “load” elements biasing the outcome.
Choose time frames relevant to your sport. If your events run 8-20 minutes, select tests within that range so your results transfer. Example test you can use (I use this one with my athletes a lot):
For time: 1000 m row → 1000 m ski → 1000 m run → 60 assault bike calories.
This sequence removes heavy lifts & complex gymnastics, isolates capacity across modalities, and gives a benchmark you can retest.
Why it works: Field-testing studies show a wide variety of aerobic tests used in elite sport (35 different aerobic fitness tests in one systematic review) and highlight the need for test reliability and sensitivity.
When you reduce skill and load demands, you reduce “noise” and can more accurately track the fundamental change in your energy systems.
When you retest, some change is good, but you’ll want to ensure it’s real and valuable.
Consider:
Did your time improve by a meaningful margin (often research uses “smallest worthwhile change” or signal-to-noise ratio)? MDPI
Was the test performed under similar conditions (warm-up, modality, fatigue level)?
Did you get better without improved skill interfering (i.e., you didn’t just row faster because you learned the technique better)?
Are the improvements transferable to your sport or event demands (i.e., your engine improved, so the “extras” you layer on top will now perform better)?
Because the bigger your conditioning foundation, the more “extras” (skills, loads) you can add without them collapsing.
If your conditioning is weak, then no matter how good your skills or loads are, you’ll hit a wall. Imagine doing a 20-minute pull-up/push-up/squat test: how good will you be if your engine can’t sustain movement for 20 minutes in an un-skilled/unloaded setting?
Practical steps to integrate into your program
Choose your base tests: Pick 2-3 simple capacity tests (e.g., 1 mile run, 2k row, 5k run/row) that you’ll repeat every 12 weeks or a couple of times per year.
Schedule test windows when fresh: Ensure similar conditions (fatigue level, rest, time of day) to compare validity.
Remove skill/loads from the test: Use pure modality or basic movement so you’re measuring capacity.
Interpret results in context: If you improve, great. If not, check your training, recovery, nutrition, and fatigue.
Use capacity as the foundation: Once your engine is stronger, layer in skill, strength, and loads with better return on investment.
Final thoughts
Conditioning improvements are often the invisible game-changer. While you may feel stronger, more skilled, or faster, if your base engine hasn’t improved, you’re building on shaky ground.
By using clear, simple tests, removing skill and load bias, and tracking meaningful change over time, you can know for sure if your conditioning is improving.
Then, when you add skills and loads, you’ll get far more from them — because the engine beneath is now ready to perform.
Give the test above a shot. Record your time. Train the basics. Retest. Track the trend. And you’ll start seeing the difference not just in how you perform, but how you recover, how you sustain, and how you win.
Send me your score — I’d love to see it.
Reach out if you have any questions about your conditioning: email or instagram.
Eddie,
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AEROBIC CAPACITY AS AN INDICATOR IN DIFFERENT KINDS OF SPORTS Goran Ranković 1,*, Vlada Mutavdžić 2, Dragan Toskić 3, Adem Preljević 4, Miodrag Kocić 2, Gorana Nedin-Ranković 5, Nikola Damjanović 2
Assessment of Aerobic Fitness and Repeated Sprint Ability in Elite Male Soccer: A Systematic Review of Test Protocols Used in Practice and Research Systematic Review Open access Published: 12 April 2025