What is aerobic fitness and how do I test it?

29 March 2022

What exactly is aerobic fitness?
Why is it important?
How much is enough?
How fit am I?

What is aerobic fitness?

By definition, ‘aerobic’ means ‘with oxygen’. Aerobic fitness (interchangeable with ‘cardio fitness’) is a measure of your body’s ability to take oxygen from the atmosphere and use it generate energy in your muscle cells. There are two key processes involved;

With training, both processes get more efficient, the heart and lungs can deliver bigger volumes of oxygen, and the body produces more mitochondria (the part of the muscle cell where the chemical reaction takes place). As a consequence, you can generate more energy, and use your muscles to generate more force over time – you get fitter!

Why is aerobic fitness important?

Remember – in a fitter person, the whole system (heart, lungs, blood vessels and cells) work more efficiently. Think of your body like a car engine; an engine that runs efficiently and doesn’t need to work too hard to hold its speed uphill is far less likely to break down. Unlike a car breakdown, an issue with your body’s systems can’t always be fixed or replaced.

Poor fitness caused by physical inactivity is one of the major risk factors for:

Cardiovascular disease, including high blood pressure, heart conditions, and stroke
Type 2 diabetes
Overweight and obesity
Osteoporosis
Some cancers, especially breast and colon cancer

Conversely, people who are regularly active have a lower incidence of all of these health issues.

How much is enough?

Preschoolers, 3-5 years	Preschoolers should be active for at least 3 hours each day. This should include 1 hour of energetic play, like: • running – playing tips, ball games or races at the park • kicking, throwing and jumping – at the park or by creating fun obstacle courses at home • dancing • skipping. This should take place through the day, not all at once. Physical activity for preschoolers should be fun and encourage exploration and discovery.
Children and young people, 5-17 years	Children and young people should do at least 60 minutes each day of moderate to vigorous physical activity that makes the heart beat faster. More is better. It doesn’t have to be a full 60 minutes at once – several shorter sessions through the day work too. These activities don’t have to be organised and can include: • running, swimming, riding a bike or scooter • organised or informal sports • dance, gymnastics, rock-climbing – the sky is the limit! Children and young people should also do several hours of various light physical activities each day.
Adults 18-64 years	Adults: should be active on most, preferably all, days every week • Accumulate 150 to 300 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity, or an equivalent combination of both moderate and vigorous activities each week • Do muscle-strengthening activities on at least 2 days each week
older adults, aged 65+	Older adults should; • Accumulate at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity on most, preferably all, days. • Complete muscle-strengthening activities on at least 2 days each week.

How fit am I?

The simplest way to assess your cardiovascular fitness is by measuring your resting heart rate. Remember, ‘resting’ doesn’t mean you’ve just found a spare minute to sit down after rushing around all morning with a couple of coffees on board. A normal resting heart rate for adults ranges from 50 to 70 beats per minute. ‘Resting’ means completely relaxed.

Another way to assess your fitness is to measure your heart rate response to exercise.

Step T

Equipment:

30cm (12”) step or sturdy box
Stopwatch
Metronome (free apps available)

Method:

Set metronome to 96 bmp
Step up and down off the box for three minutes in time with the beat
To maintain a steady pace it can help to say “up, up, down, down” with each beat
At the end of the three minutes, rest for one minute and then check your heart rate

How’d you go? – The lower your heart rate the fitter you are.

3-minute Step Test (Men) – Heart Rate

Age	18-25	26-35	36-45	46-55	56-65	65+
Excellent	<79	<81	<83	<87	<86	<88
Good	79-89	81-89	83-96	87-97	86-97	88-96
Above Average	90-99	90-99	97-103	98-105	98-103	97-103
Average	100-105	100-107	104-112	106-116	104-112	104-113
Below Average	106-116	108-117	113-119	117-122	113-120	114-120
Poor	117-128	118-128	120-130	123-132	121-129	121-130
Very Poor	>128	>128	>130	>132	>129	>130

Source: Mackenzie, B. (2005). 101 Performance evaluation tests.

3-minute Step Test (Women) – Heart Rate

Age	18-25	26-35	36-45	46-55	56-65	65+
Excellent	<85	<88	<90	<94	<95	<90
Good	85-98	88-99	90-102	94-104	95-104	90-102
Above Average	99-108	100-111	103-110	105-115	105-112	103-115
Average	109-117	112-119	111-118	116-120	113-118	116-122
Below Average	118-126	120-126	119-128	121-129	119-128	123-128
Poor	127-140	127-138	129-140	130-135	129-139	129-134
Very Poor	>140	>138	>140	>135	>139	>134

Source: Mackenzie, B. (2005). 101 Performance evaluation tests.

For those who are a bit fitter there is the 12min run test

Equipment:

Stop watch
A running area with a clearly marked distance – running track, treadmill etc

Method:

Perform a brief warm up, 10-15mins at a low-moderate intensity
Run or walk as far as you can in a 12-minute period.
Record the distance and use that to complete the equation below to calculate your VO²max

How’d you go? Using your distance, you can calculate how you went compared to others of your age and gender:

VO2max = (22.351 x distance in km’s) – 11.288

This link https://www.exrx.net/Calculators/MinuteRun will take you to an online calculator. Or have a look at the table below and compare your results:

Females
AGE	20-29	30-39	40-49	50
Excellent	2700m +	2500m +	2300m+	2200m +
Above Average	2200-2700m	2000-2500m	1900-2300m	1700-2200m
Average	1800-2199m	1700-1999m	1500-1899m	1400-1699m
Below Average	1500-1799m	1400-1699m	1200-1499m	1100-1399m
Poor	1500m>	1400m>	1200m>	1100m>

Males
AGE	20-29	30-39	40-49	50
Excellent	2800m +	2700m +	2500m+	2400m +
Above Average	2400-2800m	2300-2700m	2100-2500m	2000-2400m
Average	2200-2399m	1900-2299m	1700-2099m	1600-1999m
Below Average	1600-2199m	1500-1999m	1400-1699m	1300-1599m
Poor	1600m>	1500m>	1400m>	1300m>

*How to measure Heart Rate:

At the wrist: Place two fingers on the inside of the wrist, about 1cm from the joint, in line with the index finger. Once you find the pulse, count the number of beats for 15s and multiply by 4 to establish beats per minute (bpm).

At the neck: Gently place to fingers on the side of you neck, just below the jaw until you feel the pulse. Once you find the pulse, count the number of beats for 15s and multiply by 4.