AEROBIC FITNESS TESTING & CALORIC EXPENDITURE ESTIMATIONS

Here is a great article that I found on my mentor’s site. For more great articles by Craig Ballantyne please sign up for his free newsletters @ http://www.cbathletics.com

AEROBIC FITNESS TESTING & CALORIC EXPENDITURE ESTIMATIONS

Aerobic fitness is measured as VO2max (maximal oxygen uptake) and this attribute can be estimated from your performance in a 12- to 15-minute run. You must know the exact time and distance of the run (converted to meters).

Determine the average velocity of the run (for example a 15-min run):
Step A) Calculate your average velocityAverage velocity = 15 min run distance (meters)/15 min
Average Velocity= meters per minute

Step B) Use the average velocity in the following equation to estimate the VO2:
VO2max (ml/kg/min) = 33.3 + (average velocity - 150) x 0.178 ml/kg/min

ml = milliliters kg = kilograms min = minutes

You now have an estimation of your aerobic fitness in relation to your bodyweight. The average VO2 of an active college male is ~ 40-50 ml/kg/min and is slightly lower for active females.
Second equation:

To determine the number of calories you burned in an exercise session you must first convert your aerobic fitness estimation to L/kg/min (so divide your score by 1000). For example: 50 ml/kg/min --> 0.050 L/kg/min

Then insert the appropriate values (body weight and exercise duration) in the following equation. For VO2, you need to estimate a percent intensity at which you were working. For example, on a hard run you might say you were exercising at 80% VO2max whereas after a brisk walk you would likely be exercising at only 50% VO2max.

Calories burned = VO2 (L/kg/min) x wt (kg) x time (minutes) x 5 (kcal/min/LO2)

5 (kcal/min/LO2) = the number of calories used per liter of oxygen consumed.

So for example, a 70 kg subject with a 50 ml/kg/min VO2max exercising at 75% VO2max for 30 minutes:
Calories Burned = (0.050 x .75) x 70 x 30 x 5

Calories Burned= 0.0375 x 70 x 30 x 5

Calories Burned= 394 kcal

Hopefully that wasn't too confusing. Again, you don't need to know it, but you might be interested in at least knowing your estimated aerobic fitness.