I just did a 20 minute run on the treadmill due to the rainy weather today. The treadmill bores the life out of me and is no fun at all for my knees and shins. I wanted some excitement so I decided that I would try one of the pre-programed fitness tests! Woo hoo! Exciting times! Seriously, what has my life become when I get excited over a fitness test…
After entering my gender, weight and age the treadmill told me (it speaks to me, you know) that it would start at an incline of 0 and over 12 minutes would rise to an incline of 12 whilst maintaining a speed of 5.4km/hr. Sounded easy enough. I needed to keep my hands on the heart rate monitor to keep track of my heart rate because, the treadmill explained, if I stayed at a heart rate of 150bpm for more than a minute the test would terminate. In robot voice: “This treadmill will self destruct in 3 – 2 – 1… Ka Boom!”. That’s probably not what happens. Or…. is it…? *evil laugh*
The test is supposed to measure your level of cardiovascular fitness by determining the maximal amount of oxygen your body can utilise. It’s called “Submax VO2 Testing”. I’m not sure how accurate it could be, given that I didn’t have an oxygen max with me (just darned forgot it today) so I was skeptical. And I was even more skeptical after my results were flashed across the screen:
VO2 Sub Max Rating = 95.9
Fitness Percentage = 90%
Fitness Level = SUPERIOR
Bow down to me people! I am your SUPERIOR now! I should be crowned, given a key to the city, have an island named after me, have a trillion rose petals thrown at my feet! I am superior in every which way now! Finally!
Okay, so I’m going overboard here… But whilst the test may not be accurate (read – totally isn’t accurate), I’m still pretty pleased because I know that 6 months ago I would have fallen flat on my face at an incline of 12. Flat. On. My. Face. So that’s a win for me. And I get to keep my face.
Have you ever tried one of the fitness tests on your gym’s treadmills?
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Impressive. 90% is north of where most ever get.
Congrats, Amanda ..knock em dead!
Haha thanks Michael! Like I said, not sure how accurate it is but apparently I’m a super athlete! 😉
This is news to me! I didn’t even know that treadmills have fitness tests – I will definitely have to check out more of the functions on the treadmill. Every time I’m on the treadmill for me, it’s just been the quickstart button.
And I agree! Impressive on the 5.4 mph on a 12 incline! My calves hurt just thinking about it!
Lol yes, QuickStart is my mate. 😉 and not 5 miles, 5 kilometers per hour. But we can go the miles option if you like… 😉
I love playing with the treadmill settings. I used to do ones that would put you through heaps of elevations plus I would walk four minutes run one minute, for twenty minutes, but then I got sick, had exams, lost my job, and got all depressed (oh god get me a violin!) and didn’t go for a month. I went back to the gym this week (4 days in a row for an hour each day, I am very happy with myself) and I can only do an incline of 3 on the treadmill and can’t run at all. Not cool. But I did bump up my interval training on the bike today. After only three days my old level was not giving me the burrrrn. Woohoo!
that’s awesome Clare! Keep at it, you will get there! 🙂