Everything needed to build a fully defined score.
Building a rigorous, reproducible fitness score is a deliberate, multi-layer process. These are the FITDAT building blocks — how they connect from raw measurement through to the scored, interpreted result a user receives.
REALFIT® is the standards and certification authority for objective physical fitness measurement. It does not build apps or scoring engines directly — it sets the rules that everything else must follow.
REALFIT governs FITDAT by defining what qualifies as a test, what constitutes a complete specification, and what versioning rules apply. It issues REALFIT Certification to Score Sets and apps that implement FITDAT correctly and meet reproducibility standards. Certification is auditable and revocable.
What REALFIT does not do: It does not dictate training philosophy, coaching methodology, or how individuals should interpret their scores. That is the job of Score Sets and Reference Bands.
Responsibilities
- Maintains and versions the FITDAT library
- Sets specification requirements for new tests
- Issues and revokes REALFIT Certification
- Publishes proprietary Score Sets (REALFIT Absolute Score™)
- Publishes open standard implementations (Army AFT, Marine PFT)
What this means for developers
- FITDAT definitions will not change without versioning
- Your Score Set can reference specific FITDAT versions
- Certification gives your Score Set institutional credibility
- The library is governed — not crowdsourced
FITDAT is not just a test list. It is the complete toolkit for building a fully defined fitness score — tests, score sets, standards, reference bands, feedback tables, developer tools, and API access. Every layer required to define, calculate, and communicate a fitness result is here, openly, in one governed library.
The key architectural principle: FITDAT defines facts, not judgments. A measurement of 4.55 seconds in the 40-yard dash is a fact. Whether that is "good" is the job of a Score Set, not FITDAT. This separation is intentional — the same FITDAT test can be used by a general population Score Set, an NFL Combine Score Set, and a military readiness Score Set simultaneously, each applying their own interpretation without changing the underlying test definition.
What FITDAT provides
- Tests — construct, protocol, metric, components
- Score Sets — tests, weights, aggregation method
- Standards — versioned reference distributions by population
- Reference Bands — score ranges with descriptive labels
- Feedback Tables — per-test and per-score-set descriptive text
- Developer Tools & API — build on FITDAT programmatically
What FITDAT does not do
- Score or rank individuals
- Prescribe training philosophy
- Endorse equipment or methods
- Define what constitutes "good" performance
- Set certification windows (that's a Score Set parameter)
A Score Set takes FITDAT test definitions as inputs and applies its own scoring logic: curves, component weights, aggregation rules, and reference bands. Score Sets are where interpretation lives. The same FITDAT measurement means different things to different Score Sets — and that is by design.
REALFIT publishes three types of Score Sets:
Proprietary REALFIT Score Sets — the REALFIT Absolute Score™ is the flagship. Scoring curves and component weights are proprietary to REALFIT and not published in FITDAT. Available via REALFITSCORE.com.
Public standard implementations — REALFIT publishes versioned, reproducible implementations of publicly available standards like the Army Fitness Test and Marine Corps PFT. These use FITDAT test definitions where they exist and flag gaps where new tests need to be specified.
Developer Score Sets — any developer can build a Score Set using FITDAT definitions. Score Sets must declare their FITDAT version references, calculation models, and include at least one Reference Band. REALFIT Certification is available for Score Sets that meet specification requirements.
Every Score Set must declare
- Which FITDAT tests and versions it uses
- The calculation model (points table, formula, hybrid)
- Component weights and aggregation method
- At least one Reference Band
- Its own version number
Score Set types
- REALFIT Absolute Score™ — proprietary flagship
- Army Fitness Test (AFT) — public standard
- Marine Corps PFT — public standard
- NFL Combine — professional benchmark
- Developer custom Score Sets
Apps are the user-facing implementations of Score Sets. They collect measurements, apply Score Set logic, and present results. Apps may be built by REALFIT or by third-party developers.
REALFIT apps are built and maintained by REALFIT directly. REALFITSCORE.com is the flagship — a web app where anyone can score all 14 FITDAT tests online and receive their REALFIT Absolute Score. ScoreMy40.com is a focused single-test app for the 40-yard dash.
Certified developer apps implement FITDAT definitions accurately, declare their Score Set version, and reference StandardSets correctly. REALFIT Certification is auditable and revocable — it signals to users that the app's results are reproducible and governed.
REALFIT apps
- REALFITSCORE.com — full battery, Absolute Score
- ScoreMy40.com — 40-yard dash with race comparison
- iOS / Android apps — in development
For developers building apps
- Implement FITDAT test definitions exactly
- Declare Score Set version in your UI
- Reference StandardSets correctly
- Apply for REALFIT Certification via realfit.com
How a measurement flows through the stack
From a physical result to a scored, reproducible output — every step is declared and versioned.
Test is performed using a FITDAT protocol
The athlete runs 40 yards. The administrator uses proto_40yd_dash_v1 — standing start, electronic timing, nearest 0.01 seconds. The protocol is fully specified and versioned. Any administrator anywhere using this protocol produces a comparable result.
Result is recorded as an immutable measurement
4.55 seconds. The measurement is a fact — it references test_40yd_dash, proto_40yd_dash_v1, and the canonical unit (seconds). It cannot be changed retroactively.
Normalization rule is applied if needed
The 40-yard dash input is already in seconds — no normalization needed. For a Bench Press result entered in lbs, norm_lbs_to_kg converts it to the canonical unit before scoring.
Score Set applies its scoring curve
The REALFIT Absolute Score Score Set maps 4.55 seconds to a score using its proprietary scoring table. The Score Set version is declared in the output. A different Score Set (e.g. NFL Combine) applies its own positional benchmarks to the same 4.55-second measurement.
Reference Band provides human interpretation
The score maps to a Reference Band label — "Near elite", "NFL starter speed", "Above D1 average". Reference Bands are non-scoring interpretive layers. They do not change the underlying score.
Output is reproducible and auditable
Any system using the same FITDAT test version, the same protocol, and the same Score Set version will produce the same result for the same input. That's the whole point — fitness data that compounds and scales.
Building on FITDAT as a developer
Four steps from idea to certified Score Set.
Browse the library
Choose which FITDAT tests your Score Set will use. Each test has a full specification — definition, protocol, normalization rule, and context tags.
Build your Score Set
Define your scoring curves, component weights, aggregation method, and at least one Reference Band. Declare which FITDAT test and protocol versions you reference.
Test with the demo
Use the FITDAT scoring demo to verify your implementation produces correct canonical values and that your Score Set logic applies correctly.
Apply for certification
Submit your Score Set specification to REALFIT for certification review. Certified Score Sets are listed in the REALFIT ecosystem and carry the REALFIT Certified mark.
REALFIT Certification
REALFIT Certification is available to any Score Set or application that correctly implements FITDAT definitions, declares its versions, and meets reproducibility standards. Certification is not an endorsement of scoring philosophy — it is a technical attestation that the implementation is accurate and auditable.
Certification requirements: Implement FITDAT test definitions exactly as specified. Declare Score Set version, FITDAT version references, and protocol IDs in all outputs. Include at least one Reference Band. Pass REALFIT's reproducibility audit.
Certification is revocable if an implementation is found to be inaccurate or non-reproducible. The certification status of all Score Sets and apps is publicly auditable via REALFIT.com.