Assistant Athletics Director – Strength and Conditioning Loyola Marymount University Athletics
Cardiovascular fitness as the ability of the heart, blood cells and lungs to supply oxygen-rich blood to the working muscle tissues and the ability of the muscles to use oxygen to produce energy for movement. Understanding the relationship between cardiorespiratory endurance training and other categories of conditioning requires a review of changes that occur with increased aerobic, or anaerobic capacity. As aerobic/anaerobic capacity increases, general metabolism rises, muscle metabolism is enhanced, hemoglobin rises, buffers in the bloodstream increase, venous return is improved, stroke volume is improved, and the blood bed becomes more able to adapt readily to varying demands. Each of these results of cardiovascular fitness/cardiorespiratory conditioning will have a direct positive effect on muscular endurance, and an indirect effect on strength and flexibility.
To facilitate optimal delivery of oxygen to the working muscles, the person needs to train or participate in activities that will build up the energy stores needed for sport. This is referred to as metabolic training. Metabolic training is generally divided into two types: aerobic and anaerobic.
So in my mind I pictured two tests: One test for anaerobic and one test for aerobic fitness. Using Dotsie’s tracking of resting heart rate when the subject wakes up I think that both protocols should begin with a 5-day record of resting heart rate and average p02. Then prior to starting the test a measurement should be taken. Both tests could be completed on a treadmill or stationary bike.
Aerobic: The aerobic test would be a timed step up style test where every minute the speed would increase 0.5 mph and the heart rate would be recorded as the test was conducted. The point here would be to track how quickly the athletes heart rate rose and the p02 went down. The premise being that the less fit person would cover less ground and the heart rate would spike resulting in the earlier termination of the testing procedure. This test is a common “stress test” type of assessment.
The recorded score is both the level and the distance covered before failure. The chart below details the protocol to be used. In the event the participant is able to hold speed at level 15 (12 mph) for longer than a minute, the recorded distance serves as the detailed record. The reason for only detailing the protocol up to the 12 mph is that most home use treadmills only go up to that speed and most health club treadmills have max speeds of 12-14 mph.
In an effort to simplify for the user the max speed will be 12 mph. After the test, the user can then look at the level and distance achieved as well as the heart rate. In an ideal world training effect would be evident in both a greater level achieved before failure as well as a decrease in cardiac work as shown by a reduced heard rate at the same speed and time. (i.e. the first test result was level 11 and heart rate was 175 bpm at the 1 mile mark. The second test was a 14 and heart rate was 165 bmp at the 1 mile mark)
|Level||Time Interval(Min)||Speed(mph)||Distance||Total Distance|
Anaerobic: The anaerobic test would be a series of sprint and recover efforts that would elicit the heart rate spike but also allow for some recovery. Timing in this scenario would be a constant walking rate (or cycling) at a speed that could be maintained with a heart rate of 50% of max (or somewhere in there). Each successive sprint would get tougher and tougher and thus elicit a score that could be recorded along with the heart rate data.
The warm-up consists of a 2-minute walk at 3 miles an hour and then gets into the sprint/recover test. You can see in the diagram that intervals are simplified to 30 seconds each and speeds are also preset. The score kept is the last level fully completed. The graph below outlines the speeds and timing.
The goal here is to improve both the level and deflection of the heart rate after the sprint interval. Meaning that after I finished level 10 my heart rate came down to 175 bpm before I started the next spring and the next test I was at 160 bpm after level 10 but before I started the next sprint.
|Level||Time Interval(Sec)||Speed(mph)||Distance||Total Distance|
The ending result of both tests would be a score that could be recorded and then retested. One of the goals of the MightySat is to give the user reliable data and feedback on the improvement or lack there of and these two protocols outline tests easily done by the average user. They also provide the clear route to success by making the level of performance easy to measure. All they would require would be an audio file recorded for each test and in order to keep testing on cadence and organized.