Fitness Walk
What is a Fitness walk?
Including a fitness walk during your measurement, provides you with an accurate estimate of your fitness level. Fitness level is expressed as VO2max, which represents the maximum volume of oxygen the body can consume in one minute.
Why is it useful?
A good level of fitness has widespread benefits, including a positive impact on sleep, stress resilience and ability to recover well. VO2max is also associated with overall health (not just cardiovascular) and longevity.
It is a common misconception that you need to be very fit to get health benefits. The reality is that beyond a reasonably good fitness level, further health benefits are minimal. Importantly it is the build up to that reasonably good fitness level where you will get the biggest health benefits. This is illustrated in the visual below.
“A 10% increase in fitness (VO2Max) reduces your risk of mortality by 15% and has the potential to expand your healthspan by 10 years!”
Information is power! Having access to an accurate estimate of your fitness level means you have objective insights into whether and how to target fitness improvements. Firstbeat provides a great resource to help you determine optimal ways to lift your fitness from one level to the next (see below). And of course, we can help you get this right!
The silver lining of not (yet!) having a good fitness level is that improvements are faster and bigger, compared to when you already have a high fitness level. With 4-10 weeks of good training, someone with a low fitness level can increase VO2max by 10-20%.
Just picture the flow-on effect of this on your sleep, stress resilience, energy levels and overall health!
How do I complete a fitness walk?
You can do the fitness walk at any time during the measurement. Choose a route that is as flat as possible and walk continuously for 30 minutes at a moderate to brisk pace.
Walk at least 2km in 30 minutes, which equates to a walking speed of at least 4km/hr. You can also complete the walk on a treadmill.
Do not run and avoid carrying a heavy load, pushing anything, talking and stopping.
Mark your Fitness Level Walk in your journal.
To ensure optimal accuracy, make sure you enter your exact body weight in the personal information section. Vo2Max is calculated as your maximum oxygen uptake capacity per kilogram of body weight per minute (ml/kg/min).
The advice is to not complete the walk if you have a condition that limits your ability to walk, are on beta-blocker medication or do not normally do any exercise at the level of intensity required for this fitness walk.
Want to dive into the technical detail?
You have got all the info now to start your fitness walk! If you are keen to dive into the technical background on how fitness level is calculated, you will find all you want to know in this Firstbeat blog.
Happy fitness walking!
