Cardiovascular Fitness

Cardiovascular Fitness Facts

Self-Assessment Cardiovascular Fitness—Step Test and One-Mile Run

Cardiovascular Fitness Objectives

Todays Objectives:• Describe the benefits of cardiovascular fitness to health

and wellness.• Explain the relationship between physical activity and

good cardiovascular fitness.• Describe and demonstrate some methods you can use

to assess your cardiovascular fitness.• Determine how much cardiovascular fitness is enough.

Cardiovascular Fitness Fact One

Cardiovascular fitness considered is the most important fitness component because:

• A high level of fitness means that you have a healthy cardiovascular system.

• Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States.

Cardiovascular Fitness Fact two

The components of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems are:

• The heart, lungs, and blood vessels make up these systems (the cardiorespiratory system).

• The heart transports blood (carrying oxygen and nutrients) around the body.

• The lungs oxygenate the blood and remove carbon dioxide.

Cardiovascular Fitness Fact three

• Good cardio-respiratory fitness benefit each of the following:

• The heart benefits by being able to pump more blood per beat.

• The lungs are able to increase the amount of oxygen that diffuses into the blood.

Cardiovascular Fitness Fact three cont.

• The blood can carry more oxygen to the working muscles.

• The cells adapt by being able to extract and use more oxygen.

Cardiovascular Fitness Fact four

Several types of activities are likely to improve aerobic fitness. Examples are:

• Aerobic activities (jogging, swimming, biking, hiking) of a sufficient intensity and duration.

• An exercise session of 20 minutes or more, at a heart rate in the target zone, will improve aerobic fitness.

Cardiovascular Fitness Fact five

The cardiovascular system benefits due to exercise because:

• the stress of exercise causes adaptations (changes) to the cardiovascular system.

• the body adapts to the stress of exercise by becoming stronger and more efficient.

Tools to Measure Cardiovascular Fitness

Resting Heart Rate

• Your resting heart rate is how many times your heart beats in 1 minute while you are resting.

• Resting heart rates for teenagers may range between 60 and 90 beats per minute.

Cardiovascular Fitness Fact Six

Parts of the Cardiovascular system • Heart

– Pumps blood to the body

• Arteries– The arteries transport blood to the muscles and

organs.– The process of fatty deposits building up on the walls

of the arteries is known as atherosclerosis.

Cardiovascular Fitness Fact Six Cont.

Types of cholesterol• LDL cholesterol

– (this cholesterol damages arteries)

• HDL cholesterol – (this cholesterol helps get rid of LDL cholesterol)

• It is important for LDL cholesterol not to be too high, and HDL cholesterol not to be too low – (suggested ratio of no greater than 4:1).

Cardiovascular Fitness Fact Six Cont.

Veins• The veins transport blood back to the heart.• The one-way valves prevent the blood from

flowing backward through the circulatory system.

Assessing Cardiovascular Fitness

• In a laboratory, a running or cycling test can measure how much oxygen you can use when exercising (special equipment is needed for this test). This test is called maximal oxygen uptake.

Assessing Cardiovascular Fitness Cont.

• On a playing field, you can complete an aerobic run (usually one mile) in the quickest time possible or do the walking test.

• In the gymnasium, there are other aerobic tests (step test, PACER test) that can estimate how fit you are.

Cardiovascular Fitness Guidelines

Fitness Guidelines

• Aerobic exercise on a regular basis (3-5 times per week, heart rate in the target zone, for 20 min or more) should provide you with a good level of fitness.

• Fitness standards identified with different physical fitness test can help you see where you currently are and see improvement over time

Examples of Fitness rating for One mile run

purpose: this test measures aerobic endurance, as a measure of health and an

important component of many sporting activities equipment required:

stopwatch, smooth and level marked 1 mile track, paper and pencil. description:

The purpose of this test is to complete one mile in the fastest possible time. After the purpose of the test and instructions are given, the participants begin running on the count "Ready? Go!". If they desire, walking may be interspersed with running, however, they should be encouraged to cover the distance in as short a time as possible.

scoring: Note the time, in minutes and seconds, it took to complete the mile.

These results can be compared to published norms for similar age groups.

Examples of Fitness rating for Step test 17• Objective

– The objective of this test is to monitor the development of the athlete's cardiovascular system.

• Required Resources– Gym bench (45cm high)

– Stop watch

– Assistant

• How to conduct the test– Step up on to a standard gym bench once every two seconds for five

minutes (150 steps)

– Have someone to help you keep to the required pace

– One minute after finishing the test take your pulse rate (bpm)- Pulse 1

– Two minutes after finishing the test take your pulse rate (bpm) - Pulse 2

– Three minutes after finishing the test take your pulse rate (bpm) - Pulse 3

– Use the calculator below to determine your level of fitness

Building Cardiovascular Fitness

Today’s Objectives:• Explain the difference between aerobic activity and

anaerobic activity.• Describe the FIT formula for developing cardiovascular

fitness.• Explain how to determine a threshold of training and a

target zone for building cardiovascular fitness using two different heart rate methods.

Aerobic Cardiovascular Fitness

• Aerobic means “with oxygen.”

• Aerobic exercise means exercise you can sustain for long periods of time.

• Aerobic fitness is the same thing as cardiovascular fitness.

Anaerobic

• Anaerobic means “without oxygen.”

• Anaerobic exercise means exercise you can sustain for short periods of time.

• Aerobic fitness is not the same thing as cardiovascular fitness.

Keys to Cardiovascular

• Frequency – 3 time per week (minimum)

• Intensity– Heart rate between 120 and 140 for the 30 minutes to

get cardiovascular gain– Heart rates higher then 140 moves to anaerobic

exercise. – Heart rates below 120 do not provide in signficant

increase in fitness.

• Time – 30 minutes (minimum)