How to Measure Aerobic Capacity

Curious how your cardio ranks against a professional athlete? Champion Norwegian cross-country skier Bjorn Daehlie and US professional cyclist Lance Armstrong, are both elite athletes who developed exceptionally high cardiovascular fitness. Through laboratory testing, they have been reported of achieving a VO2 max of 94 ml/kg/min and 85 ml/kg/min, respectively. Cardiovascular fitness, often expressed in milliliters per kilogram of weight per min (ml/kg/min), is determined by measuring the maximal amount of oxygen that the body consumes per minute; in essence, VO2 max is a numeric value that represents how efficient your body performs. Fitness tests and formulas are used to help estimate your aerobic capacity or VO2 max.

Things You'll Need

  • Stopwatch
  • 400-meter track or flat looped course with a marker at each 100 meters.
  • Test administrator
  • Scale
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Instructions

  1. 1.5 Mile Run

    • 1

      Make sure you warm-up for at least 5 to 10 minutes before beginning any testing. This test requires you to run strenuously until you complete the total distance or six laps around a standard track; this may not be suitable for all population groups, untrained individuals and those with medical conditions should use caution.

    • 2

      Run the 1.5 miles as quickly as you can with walk breaks if needed. Have the test administrator monitor the stopwatch and call out your time each lap. Choose a quick but comfortable running tempo, in order to keep a steady pace throughout the 1.5 miles.

    • 3

      End the test strong. Accelerate toward the finish line if you can. Stop the time once your torso crosses the line. Round the time to minutes and seconds (00:00) and record the value.

    • 4

      Use the following equation to get your estimated VO2max. Plug in your time and compute the number in parentheses first to complete the calculation accurately.

      VO2max(ml/kg/min) = [483 / time (min)] + 3.5.

      Let's says you ran the 1.5 miles in 11 minutes, then your VO2 max would equal (483 / 11 ) + 3.5 or about 47 ml/kg/min.

    One-Mile Walk Test

    • 5

      An alternative to the maximal run test is the one-mile walk test; a sub-maximal effort test that is considered safe for the general population. Use the scale to measure your body weight prior to testing. Record the value in pounds.

    • 6

      Line up on the starting line. When the administrator signals you to start, walk the one mile as fast as you can. After completing the one mile, round the time to minutes and seconds (00:00) from your watch or stopwatch and record the time.

    • 7

      Find your carotid or radial pulse and assign a value of 10 seconds for each heart beat. You can take your pulse either at the neck or wrist; try to record your heart rate within 5 seconds of finishing. Multiply that number by 6 to find your heart rate in beats per minute. For example, if 20 beats were counted in 10 seconds, then the total beats per minute would equal 20 multiplied 6, or 120 bpm.

    • 8

      Convert your walking time from minutes and seconds to minute units. For example, a walking time of 12 minutes and 15 seconds would equal 12 + (15/60) or 12.25 minutes.

    • 9

      Plug in the values in the following equation to get your estimated VO2 max. Where W= weight (lbs), A= age, G= gender (use 1 for males and 0 for females), T= time and HR= heart rate (bpm).

      VO2max = 132.853 - (0.0769 x W) - (0.3877 x A) + (6.315 x G) - (3.2649 x T) - (0.1565 x HR)