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Fitness and Fitness Testing
Fitness is such a ubiquitous term these days. Everyone's either getting into a new fitness regime, offering one, seeing someone about one or holding on to the secret of the ONLY way to get fit. Seems it's quite the saleable commodity...
But what exactly is fitness? What does it mean, and why do we really want it? Why is it now proven that being fat and fit is better than being skinny and unfit? … and wait, does it even make sense that being fit does not always equal being a buff and lean god, and vice versa??
Like staring at an everyday word on a page for too long until it stops making sense, I’m going to define the elusive concept of fitness and give you a heads up on just why it’s a gift everyone deserves, far from using it just in the search for the body beautiful.
I wrote about fitness in the April 2010 edition of DNA magazine - but here are a couple of excerpts:
So, what is it?
Fitness describes a characteristic of the human body. Like size, weight or height, it’s really just a scale.Everyone, anytime in their lives sits somewhere on a spectrum of fitness, ranging from grossly unfit to world class athlete. Where you sit on the scale comes down to one, slightly abstract, concept: “how well your body can use oxygen and fuels to produce energy.”
Fitness actually has little to do with weight management or appearance – two things we usually associate with being “fit”. Good levels of fitness benefit everything from how you feel in the morning, how well you can perform sexually, to how long you’re going to live disease-free.
So if we’re not measuring fitness by how fit someone looks, how is it done?
Like grams are to weight, fitness has a unit of measure too. Testing can let you work out your own fitness score: VO2max. This stands for “the maximum rate of oxygen (O2) Volume your body can use each minute.”
Your body needs oxygen to produce energy, by burning fuels like carbohydrates and fat (and less so, protein and alcohol).
Oxygen fuel à energy
In this day and age we don’t really ever run out of fuels so the limit to how much energy we produce is how much oxygen we can use.
It goes to say then that the fitter you are (higher VO2max) à the more oxygen your body can use à the more energy you can produce to move faster, go further, work harder or just feel more energetic!
Testing 
There are a few ways to get your own fitness "score", by working out your VO2max. The tests are divided into two groups - maximal testing (which requires some experience and an ability to safely push yourself to your maximum performance) and submaximal testing.
If the goal is to obtain your "gold standard" or exact VO2max, you would be best advised to check with your State's Institute of Sport, an exercise physiologist with close links to a doctor. The testing below will give you a "prediction" of VO2max, based on your results and the corresponding results of many documented test subjects (some of the testing procedures have been in use since the 1970s so there are literally thousands of subjects' data to go off).
Gold standard testing requires gas analysis whilst you are doing your assessment, which is usually reserved for elite athletics testing (but can still be done for a fee if you are interested!).
Maximal testing
These tests of fitness require you to push yourself to your own personal maximum effort i.e. you can't go any further or move any faster. I have placed links to other websites where you can obtain more detail for each of the tests below.
NB: Whilst to get the most accurate result for your VO2max, these tests should be completed to your best ability, they can still roughly predict your VO2max even at a submaximal level. In this case, repeat the test on 2-3 consecutive weeks to get an approximate average.
Note: Maximal testing should only be performed under supervision, especially if you have any history of cardiovascular disease, joint or muscular problems, dizziness, pain etc. Check with a qualified trainer or exercise physiologist before attempting maximum testing.
A simple test that can be performed outdoors and with groups of people. Subjects run as far as they can for 12 minutes, and the final distance is recorded. You will need away of measuring distance (eg. running around an oval so many times, plus tape or set markers for shorter distances) to be able to get an accurate final measure.
Subjects aim to complete a 2.4 km course in as little time as possible. This test is handy when you already have a course that you know the length of (ie. 6 laps around a 400m oval) and only need to measure time taken.
A standardised test that involves running between 2 lines, 20m apart, to a particular time given by recorded beeps. Subjects aim to "beat" the beeps by reaching the other line before they sound. Subjects continue until they cannot reach the other line before the next beep - at which point a certain "level" is reached and can be used to work out VO2max.
* Treadmill tests:
These tests use a treadmill to assess fitness. Originally used as clinical tests for patients with suspected heart conditions, these can still be used to obtain a Vo2max estimate. Both involve walking or running on a treadmill that either speeds up, increases in incline (steepness), or both as time progresses, and the final time to stay on the machine is recorded. Unfortunately most commercially available treadmills don't go up to the maximum incline needed for the more common Bruce protocol (22%).
Submaximal tests
These are generally safe to perform, not requiring pushing to your absolute maximum (but will still get your heart rate up!). Still read the details provided in the links to work out whether the test is suitable for you. Often they are easy to perform too in terms of minimal equipment, and can be used at home where space and recording ability allows.
As a submaximal test they are less accurate at predicting your maximum rate of oxygen uptake (VO2max). They can be repeated however to obtain a rough estimate of VO2max.
A simple step-up, step-down procedure onto a standard height box for a given time. You record your heart rate whilst doing the test and immediately afterwards.
* Astrand-Rhyming Cycle Ergometer Test
This is a test that can be performed on a cycle ergometer (a special type of stationary bicycle with the ability to adjust/measure power and cadence - note not all gyms will have these available).
Other tests
There are a multitude of fitness tests that you can follow, with the above being the major ones. The advantage of long-used tests is that they are often validated (have been used in studies and shown to provide repeatable results) and generally accurate (provide an estimate that is close to actual value).
Google "fitness tests" to get an idea of some others that are out there.
Remember that one test on its own is all well and good - but it's far more interesting to repeat them after a period of time like every 6-12 weeks :)
Fitness and Fitness Testing
Fitness is such a ubiquitous term these days. Everyone's either getting into a new fitness regime, offering one, seeing someone about one or holding on to the secret of the ONLY way to get fit. Seems it's quite the saleable commodity...
But what exactly is fitness? What does it mean, and why do we really want it? Why is it now proven that being fat and fit is better than being skinny and unfit? … and wait, does it even make sense that being fit does not always equal being a buff and lean god, and vice versa??
Like staring at an everyday word on a page for too long until it stops making sense, I’m going to define the elusive concept of fitness and give you a heads up on just why it’s a gift everyone deserves, far from using it just in the search for the body beautiful.
I wrote about fitness in the April 2010 edition of DNA magazine - but here are a couple of excerpts:
So, what is it?
Fitness describes a characteristic of the human body. Like size, weight or height, it’s really just a scale.Everyone, anytime in their lives sits somewhere on a spectrum of fitness, ranging from grossly unfit to world class athlete. Where you sit on the scale comes down to one, slightly abstract, concept: “how well your body can use oxygen and fuels to produce energy.”
Fitness actually has little to do with weight management or appearance – two things we usually associate with being “fit”. Good levels of fitness benefit everything from how you feel in the morning, how well you can perform sexually, to how long you’re going to live disease-free.
So if we’re not measuring fitness by how fit someone looks, how is it done?
Like grams are to weight, fitness has a unit of measure too. Testing can let you work out your own fitness score: VO2max. This stands for “the maximum rate of oxygen (O2) Volume your body can use each minute.”
Your body needs oxygen to produce energy, by burning fuels like carbohydrates and fat (and less so, protein and alcohol).
Oxygen fuel à energy
In this day and age we don’t really ever run out of fuels so the limit to how much energy we produce is how much oxygen we can use.
It goes to say then that the fitter you are (higher VO2max) à the more oxygen your body can use à the more energy you can produce to move faster, go further, work harder or just feel more energetic!
Testing
There are a few ways to get your own fitness "score", by working out your VO2max. The tests are divided into two groups - maximal testing (which requires some experience and an ability to safely push yourself to your maximum performance) and submaximal testing.
If the goal is to obtain your "gold standard" or exact VO2max, you would be best advised to check with your State's Institute of Sport, an exercise physiologist with close links to a doctor. The testing below will give you a "prediction" of VO2max, based on your results and the corresponding results of many documented test subjects (some of the testing procedures have been in use since the 1970s so there are literally thousands of subjects' data to go off).
Gold standard testing requires gas analysis whilst you are doing your assessment, which is usually reserved for elite athletics testing (but can still be done for a fee if you are interested!).
Maximal testing
These tests of fitness require you to push yourself to your own personal maximum effort i.e. you can't go any further or move any faster. I have placed links to other websites where you can obtain more detail for each of the tests below.
NB: Whilst to get the most accurate result for your VO2max, these tests should be completed to your best ability, they can still roughly predict your VO2max even at a submaximal level. In this case, repeat the test on 2-3 consecutive weeks to get an approximate average.
Note: Maximal testing should only be performed under supervision, especially if you have any history of cardiovascular disease, joint or muscular problems, dizziness, pain etc. Check with a qualified trainer or exercise physiologist before attempting maximum testing.
A simple test that can be performed outdoors and with groups of people. Subjects run as far as they can for 12 minutes, and the final distance is recorded. You will need away of measuring distance (eg. running around an oval so many times, plus tape or set markers for shorter distances) to be able to get an accurate final measure.
Subjects aim to complete a 2.4 km course in as little time as possible. This test is handy when you already have a course that you know the length of (ie. 6 laps around a 400m oval) and only need to measure time taken.
A standardised test that involves running between 2 lines, 20m apart, to a particular time given by recorded beeps. Subjects aim to "beat" the beeps by reaching the other line before they sound. Subjects continue until they cannot reach the other line before the next beep - at which point a certain "level" is reached and can be used to work out VO2max.
* Treadmill tests:
These tests use a treadmill to assess fitness. Originally used as clinical tests for patients with suspected heart conditions, these can still be used to obtain a Vo2max estimate. Both involve walking or running on a treadmill that either speeds up, increases in incline (steepness), or both as time progresses, and the final time to stay on the machine is recorded. Unfortunately most commercially available treadmills don't go up to the maximum incline needed for the more common Bruce protocol (22%).
Submaximal tests
These are generally safe to perform, not requiring pushing to your absolute maximum (but will still get your heart rate up!). Still read the details provided in the links to work out whether the test is suitable for you. Often they are easy to perform too in terms of minimal equipment, and can be used at home where space and recording ability allows.
As a submaximal test they are less accurate at predicting your maximum rate of oxygen uptake (VO2max). They can be repeated however to obtain a rough estimate of VO2max.
A simple step-up, step-down procedure onto a standard height box for a given time. You record your heart rate whilst doing the test and immediately afterwards.
* Astrand-Rhyming Cycle Ergometer Test
This is a test that can be performed on a cycle ergometer (a special type of stationary bicycle with the ability to adjust/measure power and cadence - note not all gyms will have these available).
Other tests
There are a multitude of fitness tests that you can follow, with the above being the major ones. The advantage of long-used tests is that they are often validated (have been used in studies and shown to provide repeatable results) and generally accurate (provide an estimate that is close to actual value).
Google "fitness tests" to get an idea of some others that are out there.
Remember that one test on its own is all well and good - but it's far more interesting to repeat them after a period of time like every 6-12 weeks :)