Saturday, 27th July 2024

Measuring your own fitness level

In my previous blog I explained the importance of measuring physical fitness level – so seldom done by the medical profession. If you want to know your cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) you will almost certainly to have to do it your self!

The simplest approximate indicator of physical fitness is your resting heart rate. For men any level above 70 and for women above 80 beats per minute may indicate reduced fitness. These levels work for large groups for identifying increased risk of cardiovascular disease and cancers, but are too imprecise for the individual. Certain drugs such as beta blockers will artificially decrease the heart rate, thus providing a false indication of fitness using resting heart rate alone.

There are several ways in which you can estimate your own CRF accurately enough to be useful. The most usual way of expressing CRF is as  VO2max.

The Cooper Test

The Cooper test was devised by Dr Kenneth Cooper from the US in the 1960s. It is suitable for anyone with the ability to walk unaided and is simple to administer..

The Cooper test measures how far a person can travel on foot in 12 minutes. This may appear simple, yet it gives a remarkably accurate indicator of VO2max. When covering the distance, it is important to be aware of personal limitations. Younger people and fitter older people can comfortably run for 12 minutes. For some, this is too demanding. If this is so, an alternative is to try a ‘walk-jog’, by alternating fast walking with jogging. Older people and those who have not run for many years are best doing it at the fastest walk they can manage. Sadly, 12 minutes of continuous exercise is longer than many people have experienced on a regular basis. It is important that the activity is undertaken at an even  pace, so ensure that it is not started too fast.

There are several ways of taking the test:

  1. Using a smart phone, download a Cooper test app and just follow the instructions. The phone will measure the distance covered in 12 minutes, work out your VO2max and record the results. The app will also explain how the results compare with others of the same age and gender. Misleadingly, it gives the same comparisons for everyone over the age of 60, so does not do justice to older people (see below for a broader age spread of normal values).
  2. If you have a GPS watch, use it to measure how far you have travelled in 12 minutes.
  3. Use a measured athletics track or undertake the measurements on any reasonable-sized playing field, and note the laps and the distance around the track covered in 12 minutes.

To calculate your estimated VO2max (in ml/kg/min) from the distance travelled in 12 minutes, use either of these formulas:

  • In miles: VO2max = (35.97 x miles) – 11.29
  • In kilometres: VO2max = (22.351 x km) – 11.29

The following table, which is adapted from Dr Cooper’s findings, sets out the results from the distance covered in the 12 minutes. It, gives both VO2max and the average VO2max for each age and sex group. Since Dr Cooper’s figures stop at the age of ‘over 60’, my age predictions for 70–79-year-olds and 80–89-year-olds have been added. These predictions apply only to those who are able to complete 12 minutes of walking/running, which may not be the case for many older people. For them, the 6-minute walk test is a better measure of their fitness and how it compares to the population at large.

For the 12 minute  test, the normative results for ten year age groups for both men and women are shown in the table below – as the accompanying illustration says, women have lower CRF levels than men.

Heading B: Table 5.1: 12-minute run fitness-test results for men

Age       Average (metres)    Average  VO2max      
20–29         2200–2399m    40.1
30–39         1900–2299m    35.6
40–49         1700–2099m    31.2
50–59         1600–1999m    28.9
60–69         1400–1700m    23.4
70–79         1300–1600m    21.1
80–89         1100–1400m    18.0

 

Heading B. Table 5.2: 12- minute run fitness test results for women   

Age       Average (metres)   Average VO2max
20–29        1800–2199m    33.4
30–39        1700–1999m    30.1
40–49        1500–1899m    26.7
50–59        1400–1699m    23.4
60–69        1300–1600m    21.1
70–79        1200–1500m    18.9
80–89        1100–1400m    17.8

 

The Rockport Walk Test

The Cooper test requires maximal energy expenditure and many middle aged or older people find it daunting – or even frightening. An alternative is the Rockport Test which depends upon heart rate response to less extreme efforts. However it cannot be used for people who take heart rate slowing medication like beta blockers, verapamil, diltiazem, ivabradine etc. Some people have heart responses well below the normal response, known as chronotropic incompetence, and the test is unsuitable for them too. People in atrial fibrillation are also unsuitable for this test.

The Rockport is a one mile walk test which is suitable for those who do not wish to go at full tilt. It uses weight, gender, time taken and heart rate at the finish of the test to calculate VO2max:

The test estimates VO2max using the following formula which incorporates body weight (kg), age (yr), gender (males = 1, females = 0), time to complete one mile (min), and postexercise heart rate (bpm):

132.853 – 0.0769 x (Weight in kilograms) – 0.3877 x (Age) + 6.315 x (Gender – 1 for males, 0 for females) – 3.2649 x (Time in minutes) – 0.1565 x (Heart rate in beats per minute)

It is not necessary to work this all out. There are websites to do the numbers – once the age, weight, time taken and heart rate at the end are entered. Go to hicaltech87.rockport.fitnesswalkingtest and down load the app.

 

For those not in atrial fibrillation and not on heart rate slowing medication the Cooper test and the Rockport test give very similar results. In the name of science I checked both on myself and found that the Cooper test gave a figure just 5% higher than the Rockport.

Next time

I will describe the six minute walk test and how it can be used and I will give you more information about the interpretation of the results of CRF self-tests.

 

2 responses to “Measuring your own fitness level”

  1. Evgeny Mikhailovich says:

    Thank you,

    I am currently reading your book “Exercise: A Scientific and Clinical Overview” 2023
    https://www.amazon.com/Exercise-Scientific-Clinical-Hugh-Bethell/dp/1800621833

    About me: 60 years old, height 176 cm, weight 83 kg, a doctor of neurology and psychiatry, but not practicing for 15 years.
    A year (16 months) ago, the weight was 107 kg, due to which it was impossible to tie a shoelace (isometric test of standing on one leg)) and the main thing is the appearance of pulsations on the inner surface shins about 20 per minute, did not undergo rheovasography, but realized that the appearance of symptoms of venous disease is not good, so I bought an annual subscription to a fitness club. During these 16 months, I looked through all modern Guidelines and Meta-analyses on adequate physical activity (aerobic, anaerobic and combined) and nutrition (emphasis on the daily requirement of not only macronutrients: proteins, fats and carbohydrates, but also micronutrients: vitamins and minerals)
    1. Motivation.
    This is the main thing! Why do I need to exercise, run…? And here we need a story about a human being as a biological creature, whose metabolism was formed millions of years ago, even before the appearance of the African Eve (200,000 – 400,000 years ago), and the appearance of cars and other innovations of the technical revolution only 300 years ago and during this time the Biological essence of a Human could not adapt its metabolism at the genetic level, perhaps it will not be able to adapt even in 10,000 years. Therefore, physical exercise and nutrition are the most important conditions for maintaining the metabolism of a Human and reducing physical, somatic suffering. And here it is appropriate to note that after 14 days … The effect of intense training of aerobic and mixed (aerobic-anaerobic) nature is manifested in an increase in the number of capillaries per muscle fiber or per square millimeter of muscle tissue. (Hoppeler et al., 1990; Wilmore et al., 2009) i.e. changes occur at the morphological level. You can talk about telomeres and whether physical exercise can slow down aging from my blog https://health-diet.ru/people/user/827448/blog/383139/

    2. Tests.

    Huge importance because they allow you to analyze not only the initial level of fitness, but also test the achievements that will definitely occur in 14 days morphologically and in 6-8 weeks at the subjective level.

    You describe aerobic tests well, but touch very little on anaerobic ones. Meanwhile, incorrect interpretation leads to errors. For example, some strength athletes do not understand that they are engaged in not aerobic, but anaerobic and combined, and then give one of the main indicators, adequate indicators – sweat secretion – as a negative. https://cardiac-rehab.co.uk/strength-training/

    The combination is well described here “Concurrent Aerobic and Strength Training 2019” https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-75547-2

    With respect,
    Evgeny Mikhailovich

    • Hugh Bethell says:

      Thank you very much Evgeny. You raise a number of very interesting points and the main one I take away for future action is my bias towards to the effects of aerobic versus anaerobic exercise. I look forward to reading your blog.

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