Now here is some fun. The NY Times Well blog recently wrote how researchers in Norway after extensive testing came up with a simple on line calculator to estimate your VO2 max and "fitness age."
"The researchers evaluated almost 5,000 Norwegians between the ages of 20 and 90, using mobile labs. They took about a dozen measurements, including height, body mass index, resting heart rate, HDL and total cholesterol levels. Each person also filled out a lengthy lifestyle questionnaire. Finally, each volunteer ran to the point of exhaustion on a treadmill to pinpoint his or her peak oxygen intake (VO2 max), or how well the body delivers oxygen to its cells. VO2 max has been shown in large-scale studies to closely correlate with significantly augmented life spans, even among the elderly or overweight. In other words, VO2 max can indicate fitness age."
The simple questions they came up with, and my answers:
Gender: M
Resting heart rate: 51
Age: 56
Intensity, length and frequency of exercise: hard, more than 30 minutes, exercise almost every day
Waist line: 85cm
Results : VO2Max 55, Fitness Age: 25
The calculator is here.
What's your fitness age?
Do you think this approach is valid?
Share here if you wish and also include a recent marathon or half marathon time.
2 comments:
Interesting.
I amd 62, ran my best marathon in 1979 (2:49:06) and haven't run a road marathon or half marathon in years. I have been running 100 mile trail runs, though.
The calc said my fitness age is 32 and my VO2M is 50%.
Interesting indeed, I'm 62 ( started running 4 years ago, 12 miles a week), it tells me my vo2 m is 56 ( and my fitness age at -20 ....bug in their program) I'm 5 6, 140 lbs, 30.5 waist and 45 ret hr! ......but you need the "body" to run fast....that's what I'm trying to do!
Post a Comment