Aerobic fitness and VO₂ max

Overview

Recall questions on aerobic fitness and VO₂ max, its units and calculation, direct laboratory measurement and indirect shuttle run and step tests, submaximal prediction, the effects of age, sex, training and inheritance, and why VO₂ max alone does not predict race performance.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What is meant by aerobic fitness?

   Model answer

   Aerobic fitness is the ability of the body to take in, transport and use oxygen so that prolonged activity can be sustained without fatigue.

2. 2

   Define VO₂ max.

   Model answer

   VO₂ max is the maximum rate at which a person can take in, transport and use oxygen during exercise of increasing intensity.

3. 3

   State the units usually used to express VO₂ max, and explain why body mass is included.

   Model answer

   It is expressed in cm³ of oxygen per kilogram of body mass per minute, so that people of different size can be compared fairly.

4. 4

   An athlete of mass 70 kg has a maximum rate of oxygen consumption of 4.2 dm³ min⁻¹. Calculate their VO₂ max in cm³ kg⁻¹ min⁻¹.

   Model answer

   4.2 dm³ min⁻¹ is 4200 cm³ min⁻¹, so the VO₂ max is 4200 ÷ 70 = 60 cm³ kg⁻¹ min⁻¹.

5. 5

   Describe how VO₂ max is measured directly in a laboratory.

   Model answer

   The subject exercises on a treadmill or cycle ergometer at steadily increasing intensity to exhaustion while their expired air is collected and analysed, and VO₂ max is the oxygen uptake at which it plateaus despite a further increase in workload.

6. 6

   Give two reasons why an indirect test is often used instead of a direct measurement of VO₂ max.

   Model answer

   The direct test requires expensive gas analysis equipment and trained staff, and exercising to exhaustion is unsafe for older or unfit people.

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