Cardiorespiratory Fitness

Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is an independent predictor of morbidity and mortality. In Japan, annual physical exams are mandatory in workplace settings, and most healthcare settings have electronic medical records (EMRs). However, in both settings, CRF is not usually determined, thereby limiting the potential for epidemiological investigations using EMR data. PURPOSE: To estimate CRF (mL/kg/min) using variables commonly recorded in EMRs. METHODS: Participants were 5293 Japanese adults (11.7% women) who completed an annual physical exam at a large gas company in Tokyo, Japan, in 2004. The mean age was 48.3 ± 8.0 years. Estimated CRF (eCRF) was based on age, measured body mass index, resting heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and smoking. Measured CRF was determined by a submaximal cycle ergometer graded exercise test. RESULTS: Regression models were used for males and females to calculate Pearson’s correlation and regression coefficients. Cross-classification of measured CRF and eCRF was conducted using the lowest quintile, quartile, and tertile as the unfit categories. R’s for eCRF were 0.61 (MD 4.41) for men and 0.64 (MD 4.22) for women. The overall accuracy level was reasonable and consistent across models, yet the unfit lower tertile model provided the best overall model when considering the positive predictive value and sensitivity. CONCLUSION: eCRF may provide a useful method for conducting investigations using data derived from EMRs or datasets devoid of CRF or physical activity measures.

Physical activity (PA) provides numerous physiological and psychosocial benefits. However, lifestyle changes, including reduced PA opportunities in multiple settings, have resulted in an escalation of overweight and obesity and related health problems. Poor physical and mental health, including metabolic and cardiovascular problems is seen in progressively younger ages, and the systematic decline in school PA has contributed to this trend. Of note, the crowded school curriculum with an intense focus on academic achievement, lack of school leadership support, funding and resources, plus poor quality teaching are barriers to PA promotion in schools. The school setting and physical educators in particular, must embrace their role in public health by adopting a comprehensive school PA program. We provide an overview of key issues and challenges in the area plus best bets and recommendations for physical education and PA promotion in the school system moving forward.

Introduction: Adulthood is a period of development and transformation, though it may not be as dramatic as childhood and adolescence. Physical changes, for example, from youth to adolescence, are transformative. The body proliferates and develops secondary sexual characteristics as adolescence progresses. Exercise training for the elderly has been linked to a variety of health benefits, including a reduction in cardiovascular mortality. Changes in the balance of the cardiac autonomic nerves result in an increase or relative innervation of the vagus nerve, an explanatory mechanism that may be involved after exercise. Regular physical activity has also been linked to improving mental health (for example, reducing stress, anxiety, and depression). Mental health is critical for preventing and managing cardiovascular disease, but it also impacts other chronic diseases (such as diabetes, osteoporosis, hypertension, obesity, cancer, and depression). Conclusions: Finally, this review unifies the relationship between physical activity, cardiorespiratory health, and adulthood across the life span. In adulthood, changes in daily physical activity have a significant impact on overall health and well-being. As people's corporeal and psychological health care deteriorates with age, regular physical activity becomes crucial for well-being.

Youth in the United States have low levels of cardiorespiratory fitness, a risk factor for childhood obesity. Lower levels of physical fitness for black and Hispanic youth contribute to health disparities. In this feasibility study, we examined active video games (AVGs) as a tool to improve fitness and attitudes toward physical activity during early adolescence. A 6-week AVG program took place in a youth development program in a high-poverty neighborhood in New York City. Youth aged 10 to 15 years (50% overweight or obese) participated in 2 fitness tests and completed surveys that captured barriers to physical activity pre- and postintervention. Each week, participants played Wii Fit games for 30 minutes. Participants improved the number of sit-ups and step-ups they completed from pre- to postintervention (p < .05). Participants also increased their self-efficacy, intention to exercise and perceived social support to exercise (p < .05). Youth reported a high level of enjoyment...

A vast number of different artistic sports such as dance, rhythmic gymnastics, synchronised swimming and figure skating are kinesiologically speaking the most creative sports disciplines but on the other hand, they pose a great problem when standardizing the criteria for competition rulebooks.
The subject matter of this research comprising: dancesport female dancers (20), folk dance female dancers (20), balerinas (20) and rhythmic female gymnasts (20), 80 female respondents in total, arose from the dilemma regarding the extent to which different dances, as primarily artistic activities, have sporting and kinesiological features such as some fitness abilities in the area of fitness status as well as regarding the level and nature of relations between these abilities with musicality and tempo and between musicality and mental and motor potential. It is equally important to find out whether different types of dance and rhythmic gymnastics have common regulatory mechanisms which govern the control of motor response and whether different movement structures to different music form specific patterns of mental and motor behaviours such as rhythm and coordination. The subject matter also included the genetic potential of some mental abilities, rhythm, coordination and musicality and how prominent and significant it was for different types of dance and rhythmic gymnastics. Some morphological characteristics such as body weight and subcutaneous adipose tissue and body composition in general most certainly have influence on the performance of movement structures in different types of dance and rhythmic gymnastics as well as on the functional ability and the overall fitness status. The key question here is whether those influences are equally significant for different dances and rhythmic gymnastics. Finally, a significant topic of this research is also the assumption of the extent to which some components of musicality and fitness status depend on specific exercise of different movements to the music.
The research subject matter is the functional analysis of different types of dance (dancesport, folk dance and ballet) and their relation to rhythmic gymnastics.
The aim of this research was to determine the relation between the fitness status, musicality, rhythm and mental and motor potential of different types of dance and rhythmic gymnastics.
In this research, a special focus was put on the functional analysis of different dance types: dancesport, folk dance, ballet and rhythmic gymnastics. This primarily refers to the assumption that efficiency in these activities by hierarchy chiefly depends on the quality of muscle activity, contractile properties, their biochemical and electrochemical processes, mental, motor and intellectual abilities and the state of mechanisms regulating these processes. Efficiency is achieved only when other components of the complex motor functioning system (nervous system, osteoarticular system, anthropometric characteristics, cardiovascular system, respiratory, digestive and endocrine systems etc.) are in optimal condition. Therefore, the functional analysis in this research refers to the integral inter-dependent regulatory functions which underlie specific movement structures (coordination) in different types of dance and rhythmic gymnastics and which refer to the fitness status, musicality, rhythm and mental and motor functions.
Functioning of the central nervous system while conducting motor tasks is at the core of phenomenological and structural models and it is explained by functional hierarchical mechanisms of different levels. The highest level in this functional hierarchy has got a hypothetical central regulatory device controlling and coordinating functions of regulatory mechanisms of not only motor but also cognitive and conative spaces. This was confirmed in this research too. The mechanism for regulating the movement is responsible for manifestation of coordination, mobility and rhythm so this is how their mutual relation was obtained in this paper in the first place. The results speak in favour of this theory since female rhythmic gymnasts proved to be more dominant compared to dancesport female dancers, folk female dancers and balerinas due to their specifically athletic kinesiological features. The largest values are detected in mobility tests, tests for evaluating the strength, muscular endurance, and musicality and in tests for coordination evaluation. Such results can most certainly be attributed to the selection which, due to its early specialisation, is extremely important for specific sports such as rhythmic gymnastics.
As a segment of movement regulator`s function, timing is responsible for manifestation of rhythmic structures and since it is connected to motor memory and intelligence, it results in the connection between motor skills and rhythmic memory and mental capacity. In addition to the repetitive, isometric and explosive strength (evaluated in this research within the fitness status), the mechanism for energy regulation is responsible for functional cardiorespiratory and metabolic response of organism to any motor requirement primarily by controlling the vegetative functions. Vegetative functions are also responsible for maintaining the well-balanced inner equilibrium of the body and thus maintaining the concentration and attention focus. In this research, a positive correlation between parameters for evaluating the functional status, rhythmic memory, mental errors and coordination in rhythm was obtained with the regulator of organic functions being the actual correlation generator.
This means that without the functional analysis of interactive and integral effects of motor regulators and cognitive processes in a specific dance type, a vast amount of relevant information would be lost in trying to understand the cause and nature of the correlation between the fitness status, musicality and mental capacity.
When attempting to test, identify and analyse integral anthropological functioning of the human body, it is almost impossible to analyse separately any anthropological characteristic since they all have a complex pervading relation with one another. This research confirmed this and also proved that manifestation variables for evaluation of several different spaces in different types of dance behaved differently and that at the first glance, they seemed illogically related to each other since they belonged to different spaces. This phenomenon is impossible to explain from the aspect of structural analysis since it solely requires deeper functional analysis of latent regulatory mechanisms in the central nervous system. Based on various studies of factorial approach, it is only possible to define so-called structural models but any proper interpretation of results is impossible without functional hypotheses, or in-depth analyses of relation causes of manifestations and without attempts to unify obtained results in which basic generators are actually functional regulatory processes of different level and view. In this research, it was confirmed that specific motor functioning (which seemed as such in all four relatively different analysed areas: dancesport, folk dance, ballet and rhythmic gymnastics) and adaptation which it inevitably results in, depend on functions of regulatory mechanisms belonging to different anthropological spaces. This definitely means that motor space cannot be analysed without simultaneous analysis of cognitive and conative functions. Complex mutual interactions are particularly noticeable in the relations between motor skills, morphology, musicality and mental capacity. This is actually a common “cluster” with motor functioning in the centre of it and with a tone, colour and character provided by the functions of mental and conative regulators.
The obtained results indicate the phenomenon which deserves attention and deeper analysis just as those apparently illogical relations of variables different in nature. Most certainly, it is possible to get to the very “epicentre” of this relation by means of functional analysis.

The relationship between the percentage of heart rate reserve (%HRR) and percentage of oxygen uptake reserve (%VO₂R) has been recommended for prescribing aerobic exercise intensity. However, this relationship was derived from progressive maximal exercise testing data, and the stability of the relationship during prolonged exercise at a constant work rate has not been established. The main aim of this study was to investigate the stability of the %VO₂R-%HRR relationship during prolonged treadmill exercise bouts performed at 3 different constant work rates. Twenty-eight men performed 4 exercise tests: (i) a ramp-incremental maximal exercise test to determine maximal heart rate (HR(max)) and maximal oxygen uptake (VO₂(max)) and (ii) three 40-min exercise bouts at 60%, 70%, and 80% VO₂R. HR and VO₂ significantly increased over time and were influenced by exercise intensity (p < 0.001 and p = 0.004, respectively). A 1:1 relationship between %HRR and %VO₂R, and between %HRR and %VO₂(ma...

To examine the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and cardiovascular indices 2 years later, and to determine whether changes in cardiorespiratory fitness are associated with cardiovascular indices at a 2-year follow-up in adolescents. The sample comprised 734 adolescents (349 girls) aged 12-18 years followed for 3 years from the LabMed Physical Activity Study. Cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed by the 20-meter shuttle run test. Height, weight, waist circumference, and resting blood pressure (BP) were measured according to standard procedures. Regression analyses showed a significant inverse association between cardiorespiratory fitness at baseline and systolic BP (B = -0.126; P = .047) and rate pressure product (B = -29.94; P = .016), at follow-up after adjustments for age, sex, height, pubertal stage, socioeconomic status, and waist circumference. Significant differences were found between cardiorespiratory fitness groups (fit vs unfit) at baseline and systolic BP an...

Fitness matters for the prevention of premature death, chronic diseases, productivity loss, excess medical care costs, loss of income or family earnings, and other social and economic concerns. The workforce may be viewed as a corporate strategic asset, yet its fitness level appears to be relatively low and declining. Over the past half-century, obesity rates have doubled, physical activity levels are below par, and cardiorespiratory fitness often does not meet minimum acceptable job standards. During this time, daily occupational energy expenditure has decreased by more than 100 calories. Employers should consider best practices and design workplace wellness programs accordingly. Particular attention should be paid to human-centered cultures. Research should address ongoing surveillance needs regarding fitness of the US workforce and close gaps in the evidence base for fitness and business-relevant outcomes. Policy priorities should consider the impact of both state and federal reg...

Research shows that cardiorespiratory (CRF) and muscular fitness in childhood are associated with a healthier cardiovascular profile in adulthood. Identifying factors associated with measures of fitness in childhood could allow for strategies to optimize cardiovascular health throughout the lifecourse. The aim of this study was to examine the association between dietary patterns and both CRF and muscular fitness in 9⁻11-year-olds. In this study of 398 children, CRF and muscular fitness were assessed using a 20-m shuttle run test and digital hand dynamometer, respectively. Dietary patterns were derived using principal component analysis. Mixed effects linear regression models were used to assess associations between dietary patterns and CRF and muscular fitness. Most children had healthy CRF (99%, FITNESSGRAM) and mean ± SD muscular fitness was 15.2 ± 3.3 kg. Two dietary patterns were identified; “Snacks” and “Fruit and Vegetables”. There were no significant a...

To examine the association between submaximal cardiorespiratory fitness (sCRF) and all-cause mortality in a cardiac rehabilitation (CR) cohort. Retrospective cohort study of participants entering CR between 26 May 1993 and 16 October 2006, followed up to 1 November 2013 (median 14 years, range 1.2-19.4 years). A community-based CR exercise programme in Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK. A cohort of 534 men (76%) and 136 women with a clinical diagnosis of coronary heart disease (CHD), aged 22-82 years, attending CR were evaluated for the association between baseline sCRF and all-cause mortality. 416 participants with an exercise test following CR (median 14 weeks) were examined for changes in sCRF and all-cause mortality. All-cause mortality and change in sCRF expressed in estimated metabolic equivalents (METs). Baseline sCRF was a strong predictor of all-cause mortality; compared to the lowest sCRF group (<5 METs for women and <6 METs for men), mortality risk was 41% lower in those wi...

Objectives: The present study was undertaken to investigate the anthropometric, physical and cardiorespiratiory fitness of 10-16 yrs children. Background: Talent identification in sports is importance because they represent the achievement level of a particular group in future. There are very limited studies available in Indian context on talent identification in sports. Method: A total of 150 male children of 10-16 yrs age volunteered for this study; were divided equally into 3 groups (i) Prepubertal (age-11.0 ± 0.8yrs, n=50); (ii) Pubertal (age 13.5 ± 0.5 yrs, n=50); (iii) Postpubertal (age 15.5 ± 0.5 yrs, n=50). Selected anthropometric, physical and cardiorespiratiory fitness variables were measured for each group. Result: A significantly (P<0.05) greater height, body mass, BSA, LBM, mid upper arm circumference, hip and trunk flexibility, grip strengths, abdominal strength, elastic leg strength, maximum speed, peak power, VO 2max , peak expiratory flow rate and blood pressure ...

Obese female youth show less participation in physical exercise and physical education programmes. This had led to poor conditions among them and justifies the need for them to engage in aerobic dance training. With obesity, numerous complications such as high blood pressure increase in heart rate and body mass index may arise. A structured exercise performed rhythmically to the tune of music to reduce these complications due to Aerobic dance exercise (ADE) of obese female youth in College of education Ila-orangun have been well reported. One hundred and seventy two (172) obese female youth were recruited from five schools within the college. The subjects were randomized into intervention group which participated in 12 week Aerobic Dance Exercises and the control group did not engage in an organized training. Heart rate, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, body weight and body mass index was measured before and after training. Instrument used were sphygmomanometer, stethoscope, skinfold caliper, stadiometer, weighing scale and heart rate monitor. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics Analysis of covariance at 0.05 were used in analyzing the data. There were significant effects of treatment on body weight (F (1,165) =10.877;P< 0.05 ƞ 2 =0.037), percent body fat (F (1,165) = 12.379; P< 0.05 ƞ 2 =0.105); resting heart rate (F (1,165) =15.638; P< 0.05 ƞ 2 =0.056); systolic blood pressure (F (1,165) =14.486;P<0.05 ƞ 2 =0.016); diastolic blood pressure (F (1,165) =5.375; P<0.005 ƞ 2 =0.050) respectively. Aerobic dance exercise is capable of lessening high blood pressure, heart rate and body mass index associated with obesity, hence it should be included in the school curriculum.

Promotion of physical activity is a priority for health agencies. We searched for reviews of physical activity interventions, published between 2000 and 2011, and identified effective, promising, or emerging interventions from around the world. The informational approaches of community-wide and mass media campaigns, and short physical activity messages targeting key community sites are recommended. Behavioural and social approaches are effective, introducing social support for physical activity within communities and worksites, and school-based strategies that encompass physical education, classroom activities, after-school sports, and active transport. Recommended environmental and policy approaches include creation and improvement of access to places for physical activity with informational outreach activities, community-scale and street-scale urban design and land use, active transport policy and practices, and community-wide policies and planning. Thus, many approaches lead to a...

There is increasing interest in the role of physical exercise as a therapeutic strategy for individuals with Alzheimer&#39;s disease (AD). We assessed the effect of 26 weeks (6 months) of a supervised aerobic exercise program on memory, executive function, functional ability and depression in early AD. This study was a 26-week randomized controlled trial comparing the effects of 150 minutes per week of aerobic exercise vs. non-aerobic stretching and toning control intervention in individuals with early AD. A total of 76 well-characterized older adults with probable AD (mean age 72.9 [7.7]) were enrolled and 68 participants completed the study. Exercise was conducted with supervision and monitoring by trained exercise specialists. Neuropsychological tests and surveys were conducted at baseline,13, and 26 weeks to assess memory and executive function composite scores, functional ability (Disability Assessment for Dementia), and depressive symptoms (Cornell Scale for Depression in Deme...

High incidence and prevalence of chronic diseases, increasing obesity and inactivity as well as rising health expenditure represent a set of developments that cannot be considered sustainable, and will have dire long-term consequences given the increasing proportion of elderly people in our society. Based on a review of the experiences from previous large scale population-based prevention programs and the documented effects of increased physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness on chronic diseases and its risk factors, we argue that increased physical activity, especially vigorous physical activity, is a major way to reduce the prevalence of chronic diseases and improve public health. We conclude that a coordinated population-based intervention program for improved health through increased physical activity in the entire population, with a special focus on high intensity exercise, urgently needs to be implemented nationally and internationally.

Cardiorespiratory fitness as measured by peak oxygen consumption (VO2peak) is a strong predictor of longevity and may be compromised by anticancer therapy, inactivity, and smoking. We compared VO2peak among lymphoma survivors (LSs) with reference data from healthy sedentary subjects, after a 10.2-year (mean) follow-up post high-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cell transplantation (HDT-ASCT). We further examined the association between VO2peak and treatment, physical activity, smoking, pulmonary, and cardiac function. Lymphoma survivors treated with HDT-ASCT in Norway 1987-2008 were eligible. VO2peak was assessed by cardiopulmonary exercise testing. Pulmonary function testing and echocardiography were also conducted. Data on treatment, physical activity, and smoking were collected from hospital records and questionnaires. VO2peak was compared with age-sex predicted reference data. Linear regression was used to associate clinical factors with VO2peak cross-sectionally. A total ...

Background Exercise training is a key component of cardiac rehabilitation but there is a discrepancy between the high volume of exercise prescribed in trials comprising the evidence base and the lower volume prescribed to UK patients. Objective To quantify prescribed exercise volume and changes in cardiorespiratory fitness in UK cardiac rehabilitation patients. Methods We accessed n=950 patients who completed cardiac rehabilitation at four UK centres and extracted clinical data and details of cardiorespiratory fitness testing pre-and post-rehabilitation. We calculated mean and effect size (d) for change in fitness at each centre and converted values to metabolic equivalent (METs). We calculated a fixed-effects estimate of change in fitness expressed as METs and d. Results Patients completed 6 to 16 (median 8) supervised exercise sessions. Effect sizes for changes in fitness were d=0.34-0.99 in test-specific raw units and d=0.34-0.96 expressed as METs. The pooled fixed effect estimate for change in fitness was 0.52 METs (95% CI 0.51 to 0.53); or an effect size of d=0.59 (95% CI 0.58 to 0.60). Conclusion Gains in fitness varied by centre and fitness assessment protocol but the overall increase in fitness (0.52 METs) was only a third the mean estimate reported in a recent systematic review (1.55 METs). The starkest difference in clinical practice in the UK centres we sampled and the trials which comprise the evidence-base for cardiac rehabilitation was the small volume of exercise completed by UK patients. The exercise training volume prescribed was also only a third that reported in most international studies. If representative of UK services, these low training volumes and small increases in cardiorespiratory fitness may partially explain the reported inefficacy of UK cardiac rehabilitation to reduce patient mortality and morbidity.

The purpose of the study was to Assess the cardiorespiratory fitness of University of Lagos female administrators using a UKK 2km walk test to determine whether there will be a similar distribution in health related variables between studied population and reported norms. Method: Cardio respiratory fitness was determined using Urho Kaleva Kekkonen (UKK) 2Km Walk test. A total of 48 female Administrators in University of Lagos who volunteered to participate in the study were measured for height, weight, body, mass index and body fat percentage. Resting values including heart vate, systolic and diastolic blood pressures were measured. Subjects were screened and certified to participate in the walk test by a cardiologist through the use of ECG machine. Subjects then walked a 2km distance as fast as they could on a 400m track wearing a polar heart rate monitor. The prediction equation developed by UKK institute was adopted in calculating fitness index based on gender, age, relative body weight, time taken to walk and heart rate at the end of the walk. Statistics: Descriptive statistics of mean standard derivation and prediction equation for calculation of fitness index for women were used in the analysis. Result: The results obtained on physical characteristics of subjects showed that the older age brackets had higher values in the variable tested, and were considered over weight while some were obsessed. The resting values of all the subjects were within normal range (120/80mmttg). Fitness classification showed that the younger age brackets rated low on fitness index while the older age group were below average. Conclusion: Fitness classification of subjects showed that the youngest age group rated average, while others were found to be below average in cardiorespiratory fitness level.