How do you define and measure physical fitness?



Where HR(rest) is your resting heart-rate, such as 15-20 minutes after you've woken up, before you've started any strenuous exercise. To get to your HR(max), the most common, and easiest, way is to use a treadmill that has a heart-rate monitoring device. 

The treadmill is the best device to use for this because it keeps you at a consistent pace. The general method (off the top of my head) is 
  1. Start off at a pace of 1.5-2mph and 0% incline for 2-3 minutes
  2. After given time, measure heart-rate
  3. Increase incline by 1%
  4. Walk at current pace and incline for 2-3min
  5. Measure HR
  6. Increase pace by 1mph
  7. Walk at current pace and incline for 2-3min
  8. Measure HR
  9. Repeat until you either have to stop or your HR plateaus (be careful not to go above 5% incline - just increase pace)


The idea is to let your heart adjust your heart-rate to compensate for the increased metabolic consumption of oxygen because of your muscles. You stay at the given pace/incline for a few minutes because your HR will jump at first, then slope down to a level that your heart and body is comfortable at. If you want to be absolutely safe and accurate in your measurements you could allow for about 5 minutes per fluctuation, but that would take a long time.

Numbers - There technically isn't any max, but if anybody has a number of above 60 either you did something wrong or your heart can handle a HUGE strain: it would imply that your HR(max) is at least 4 times your HR(rest), which is unlikely unless you're a trained athlete. My number, for instance, is 54, but I train every day and my resting HR is very low. Some athletes can reach 70-80 and above, but they would be world-class (such as olympians).

According to the Wikipedia page, the average VO2 is -

Men (untrained): 45

Women (untrained): 38

Note: If you don't have access to a treadmill, and/or a hear-rate measuring device, I would recommend using a local high school track and measuring your heart-rate with your fingers and a watch.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VO2...

No comments: