The cooper test which was designed by Kenneth H. Cooper in 1968 for US military use is a physical fitness test. In its original form, the point of the test is to run as far as possible within 12 minutes. Pacing is important, as the participant will not cover a maximal distance if they begin with a pace too close to an all out sprint. The outcome is based on the distance the test person ran, their age and their sex.
Fartlek is a middle and long-distance runner's training approach developed in the late 1930s by Swedish Olympian Gösta Holmér. It has been described as a relatively unscientific blending of continuous training, with its steady pace of moderate-high intensity aerobic intensity, and interval training, with its “spacing of more intense exercise and rest intervals.” Simply stated, in its widely adapted contemporary forms, fartlek training is alternating periods of faster and slower running, often over natural terrain, including both “level and hilly terrain.”
V̇O2 max (also maximal oxygen consumption, maximal oxygen uptake or maximal aerobic capacity) is the maximum rate of oxygen consumption attainable during physical exertion. The name is derived from three abbreviations: "V̇" for volume (the dot over the V indicates "per unit of time" in Newton's notation), "O2" for oxygen, and "max" for maximum and usually normalized per kilogram of body mass. A similar measure is V̇O2 peak (peak oxygen consumption), which is the measurable value from a session of physical exercise, be it incremental or otherwise. It could match or underestimate the actual V̇O2 max. Confusion between the values in older and popular fitness literature is common. The capacity of the lung to exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide is constrained by the rate of blood oxygen transport to active tissue.
Exercise intensity refers to how much energy is expended when exercising. Perceived intensity varies with each person. It has been found that intensity has an effect on what fuel the body uses and what kind of adaptations the body makes after exercise. Intensity is the amount of physical power that the body uses when performing an activity. For example, exercise intensity defines how hard the body has to work to walk a mile in 20 minutes.
Kenneth H. Cooper is an American doctor of medicine and former Air Force lieutenant colonel from Oklahoma, who pioneered the benefits of doing aerobic exercise for maintaining and improving health. In 1966 he coined the term, and his book Aerobics was published in 1968, which emphasized a point system for improving the cardiovascular system. The popular mass market version was The New Aerobics (ISBN 0-553-26874-0), published ten years later.
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a training protocol alternating short periods of intense or explosive anaerobic exercise with brief recovery periods until the point of exhaustion. HIIT involves exercises performed in repeated quick bursts at maximum or near maximal effort with periods of rest or low activity between bouts. The very high level of intensity, the interval duration, and number of bouts distinguish it from aerobic (cardiovascular) activity, because the body significantly recruits anaerobic energy systems. The method thereby relies on "the anaerobic energy releasing system almost maximally".
Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) refers to the ability of the circulatory and respiratory systems to supply oxygen to skeletal muscles during sustained physical activity. Scientists and researchers use CRF to assess the functional capacity of the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. These functions include ventilation, perfusion, gas exchange, vasodilation, and delivery of oxygen to the body's tissues. As these body's functions are vital to an individual's health, CRF allows observers to quantify an individual's morbidity and mortality risk as a function of cardiorespiratory health.
Interval training is a type of training exercise that involves a series of high-intensity workouts interspersed with rest or break periods. The high-intensity periods are typically at or close to anaerobic exercise, while the recovery periods involve activity of lower intensity. Varying the intensity of effort exercises the heart muscle, providing a cardiovascular workout, improving aerobic capacity and permitting the person to exercise for longer and/or at more intense levels.
The Potential Royal Marines Course, often abbreviated to PRMC, was a Royal Marines selection course for Potential Recruits. The course was held at the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines, and was designed to assess a candidate's suitability for entry into the Royal Marines. The course in no longer held having been replaced by the Candidate Preparation Course (CPC).
Incremental exercise is physical exercise that increases in intensity over time.
SPARQ was a US-based company started in 2004 to create a standardized test for athleticism called the 'SPARQ Rating' and to sell training equipment and methods to help improve athleticism focused on the high school athlete. 'SPARQ' was an acronym it stands for: Speed, Power, Agility, Reaction and Quickness.. "Nike SPARQ" was the name used under a marketing relationship between Nike and SPARQ, under which Nike sold a line of cross training footwear, apparel and equipment in the USA.
The Potential Regiment Officers Course (PROC) is an assessment tool of the Royal Air Force (RAF) in the United Kingdom, for people wishing to become an Officer in the Royal Air Force Regiment. Currently the candidates, who as of September 2017 can be male or female, will already have passed the Officer and Aircrew Selection Centre. It has been in existence since April 2008, where it was previously known as the Potential Regiment Officers Acquaintance Course (PROAC). This name was changed due to confusion over whether the course was assessed or merely an introduction to the RAF Regiment.
vV̇O2max (velocity at maximal oxygen uptake), also known as maximal aerobic speed (MAS), is an intense running or swimming pace. This is the minimum speed for which the organism's maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max) is reached, after a few minutes of constantly maintaining this exercise intensity. At higher paces, any additional increase in power is provided by anaerobic processes. In an incremental exercise test, it is the first speed at which any increase in exercise intensity fails to elicit an increase in oxygen consumption.
Cardiovascular fitness is a component of physical fitness, which refers to a person's ability to deliver oxygen to the working muscles, including the heart. Cardiovascular fitness is improved by sustained physical activity (see also Endurance Training) and is affected by many physiological parameters, including cardiac output (determined by heart rate multiplied by stroke volume), vascular patency, and maximal oxygen consumption (i.e. VO2 max).
The ergonometer test is an anaerobic exercise test, most often performed on a stationary bicycle, that measures peak anaerobic power and anaerobic capacity. The test, which can also be performed on an arm crank ergometer, consists of a set time pedalling at maximum speed against a given resistance. The prototype test based on the Cumming’s test was introduced in 1974, at the Wingate Institute and has undergone modifications as time has progressed. The Wingate test has also been used as a basis to design newer tests in the same vein, and others that use running as the exercise instead of cycling. Sprint interval testing such as is similar to the construction of the Wingate test has been shown to increase both aerobic and anaerobic performance.
The Tecumseh step test is an exercise test that researchers use to determine a person's cardiovascular fitness level.
Submaximal performance testing is a way of estimating either VO2 max or "aerobic fitness" in sports medicine. The test protocols do not reach the maximum of the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. Submaximal tests are used because maximal tests can be dangerous in individuals who are not considered normal healthy subjects and for elite athletes maximal tests would disrupt training load balance.
In kinesiology, the ventilatory threshold (VT1) refers to the point during exercise at which the volume of air breathed out (expiratory ventilation) starts to increase at an exponentially greater rate than VO2 (breath-by-breath volume of oxygen (O2)). VT1 is thought to reflect a person's anaerobic threshold — the point at which the oxygen supplied to the muscles no longer meets its oxygen requirements at a given work rate — and therefore lactate threshold — the point at which lactate begins to accumulate in the blood, because with ongoing dependence on anaerobic glycolysis, increasing amounts of CO2 need to be exhaled to accommodate its production during the conversion of lactic acid to lactate.
The physiology of marathons is typically associated with high demands on a marathon runner's cardiovascular system and their locomotor system. The marathon was conceived centuries ago and as of recent has been gaining popularity among many populations around the world. The 42.195 km distance is a physical challenge that entails distinct features of an individual's energy metabolism. Marathon runners finish at different times because of individual physiological characteristics.
The Yo-Yointermittent test is aimed at estimating performance in stop-and-go sports like football (soccer), cricket, basketball and the like. It was conceived around the early 1990s by Jens Bangsbo, a Danish soccer physiologist, then described in a 2008 paper, "The Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test". Like many other tests of fitness, it involves running at ever-increasing speeds, to exhaustion. However, a crucial difference is that the Yo-Yo Intermittent test has periodic rest intervals, thus simulating the nature of exertion in stop-and-go sports.
