The great thing about these exercise training tests is that you can follow up over time to see how your aerobic capacity improves. Here too, you’ll enter your details (age, time and weight in this case) into a calculator to estimate your VO2 max. You then plug your time into a VO2 max calculator to see how your cardiorespiratory fitness rates compared with others in your age groups.Īnother option is to use a rowing machine and see how quickly you can row 2000 meters. (This is now very simple to do accurately with the help of any GPS fitness tracker or app). The idea is that you run as fast as you can for 12 minutes and see how far you go. Ideally, you should do this on a running track, but you can do it on flat ground or as a treadmill test. The first is the Cooper 12-minute run test. The good news - two much easier at-home tests still give a very good estimate of your VO2 max, and correlate closely with the lab test. The gases you breathe in are collected and measured, and this gives a very accurate measurement of your oxygen uptake and VO2max.
Cardiovascular fitness full#
The most well-validated way of estimating how good your cardiorespiratory fitness is a VO2 max exercise test, which calculates the oxygen consumption of your body during high-intensity activities.įor full accuracy, this test must be done in a lab, while you are exercising to capacity as you wear an exercise mask. On the other hand, exercise stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, which helps the body maintain stability when faced with increased physical, metabolic, respiratory, and cardiovascular demands. In turn this can cause more fatigue and more intolerance to exercise (and, ostensibly, other forms of stress). If you have low cardiorespiratory fitness, resting heart rate is higher, driving the sympathetic (fight or flight) arm of your autonomic system to work harder.
Cardiovascular fitness how to#
Perform an at-home test like a Cooper run or treadmill test, and plug your score into a VO2 max calculator to see where you’re at (more details on how to do this below).Measure your cardiorespiratory fitness:.Choose aerobic exercises like running, cycling, or swimming where you can control your pace.If you don’t already have a regular fitness routine, start small with short, regular exercise sessions.Aim to get better quality sleep and manage stress.Eat a supportive, heart-healthy diet with plenty of whole, unprocessed foods.Improving Cardiorespiratory Fitness: A Snapshotīefore going into more detail, let’s take a quick overview of the steps that will help improve cardiorespiratory fitness: In other words, cardiorespiratory fitness is the measure of how well your body performs during exercise without getting fatigued (it’s also referred to as cardiovascular fitness and cardiovascular endurance). According to the American Heart Association, cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is “the capacity of the circulatory and respiratory systems to supply oxygen to skeletal muscle mitochondria for energy production needed during physical activity”.
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