We all know that physical fitness is not just about looking good but also very important for our health and longevity. Recently American Heart Association published a scientific statement on the importance of assessing Cardio-Respiratory Fitness (CRF) in clinical practice. CRF is a measure of how well your body can deliver oxygen to tissues during exercise.
It is always recommended you talk to your doctor about this and take the needed tests. But if the treadmill test looks complicated or costly for you or doctor, they can now check your CRF with a few keystrokes with this new non-exercise online fitness calculator developed by Dr. Kaminsky at Worldfitnesslevel.org Website. Or if your doctor is not interested in assessing your fitness level you can do this on your own in the comfort of your home in a couple of minutes.
This non-exercise test is an easy way of finding your cardiorespiratory fitness based on the data material of HUNT study in Norway, one of the world’s largest population studies. This method assesses your CRF by estimating your maximum oxygen uptake. According to them, your body’s capacity to transport and use oxygen during exercise (VO2 max) is the most precise measure of overall cardiovascular fitness.
My fitness level came out as 42 VO2 Max which is the fitness of an average 28-year-old (I am 37). Not bad, I guess. Give it a try and let me know it goes. If you are worried about your privacy, the site states that they use your data for research and that the information in no way can be traced back to you personally.
With this new easy calculator, I hope to see this added to our physical examinations along with blood pressure, pulse, body temperature and breathing rate checkups.
You can do this test at https://www.worldfitnesslevel.org. If your numbers are not so great, now is the time to get up and move. Let me know if the results surprised you. Do you think they were accurate? Did the results motivate you to start exercising?
Disclaimer: People with high risk of heart disease based on other factors should not entirely rely on this test but work with their doctor to prevent and improve those conditions.
Nov 21, 2016, American Heart Association Scientific Statement