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Heartrate respondsto trainingintensity dependingon factors such as fitness andrecovery levels, as well as
environmentalfactors. It is important to look out for subjective feelings of fatigue, andt o adjust yourtraining
programaccordingly.
FITNESS TEST
ThePolar Fitness Test is an easy, safeand quick way t o estimate youraerobic (cardiovascular)fitness at
rest.The result, Polar OwnIndex, is comparableto maximal oxy genuptake (VO2max), which is commonly
usedto evaluateaerobic fitness. Your long-termtrainingbackground,heart rate, heartrate variabilityat rest,
gender,age,height, and body weight all influenceOwnIndex. The Polar Fitness Test is developed foruse by
healthyadults.
Aerobicfitness relates to how well your cardiovascular system works to transport oxygen to your body. The
betteryour aerobicfit ness, the strongerand moreeff icient yourheart is. Goodaerobicfit ness has many health
benefits.For example,i t helpsin decreasingthe risk of highblood pressureand yourrisk of cardiovasculardis-
easesand stroke. If y ouw antt o improveyour aerobic fitness it takes, on average, six weeks of regulartrain-
ingto see a noticeable changein your OwnIndex. Less fit individuals see progresseven more rapidly. The
betteryour aerobicfit ness, the smaller thei mprovementsin your OwnIndex.
Aerobicfitness is bestimproved by trainingt ypes that use largemuscle groups. Such activities include run-
ning,cycling, w alking, rowing,sw imming, skating, andc ross-countryskiing. To monitor your progress,s tart
bymeasuring yourOwnIndex a couple of times during the first two weeks in order to get a baselinev alue,and
thenrepeatt het est approximatelyonce a month.
Tomake sure the test results are reliable,t hef ollowingbasic requirementsapply:
lYoucan performt het est anywhere- at home, at the office, ata health club - providedthe test ingenvir-
onmentis peaceful. Thereshould be no disturbingnoises (e.g. television, radio, or telephone)andno
otherpeopletalking to you.
lAlways take the test in the same environmentand at the same hour.
lAvoideating a heavy meal ors moking2-3 hours priorto test ing.
lAvoidheavy physical exertion, alcohol, and pharmaceuticalstimulants on the test day and the pre-
viousday.
lYoushould be relaxedand calm. Lie down andrelax for 1-3 minutes beforestarting the test.
BEFORE THE TEST
Notethat y oucan do the test only if youhave set up your A300 at flow.polar.com/start.