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Fitness Test

The Polar Fitness Test is an easy, safe and quick way to estimate your aerobic (cardiovascular) fitness at rest. The result, Polar OwnIndex, is comparable to maximal oxygen uptake (VO_2max), which is commonly used to evaluate aerobic fitness. Your long-term training background, heart rate, heart rate variability at rest, gender, age, height, and body weight all influence OwnIndex. The Polar Fitness Test is developed for use by healthy adults.

Aerobic fitness relates to how well your cardiovascular system works to transport oxygen to your body. The better your aerobic fitness, the stronger and more efficient your heart is. Good aerobic fitness has many health benefits. For example, it helps in decreasing the risk of high blood pressure and your risk of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. If you want to improve your aerobic fitness it takes, on average, six weeks of regular training to see a noticeable change in your OwnIndex. Less fit individuals see progress even more rapidly. The better your aerobic fitness, the smaller the improvements in your OwnIndex.

Aerobic fitness is best improved by training types that use large muscle groups. Such activities include running, cycling, walking, rowing, swimming, skating, and cross-country skiing. To monitor your progress, start by measuring your OwnIndex a couple of times during the first two weeks in order to get a baseline value, and then repeat the test approximately once a month.

To make sure the test results are reliable, the following basic requirements apply:

You can perform the test anywhere - at home, at the office, at a health club - provided the testing environment is peaceful. There should be no disturbing noises (e.g. television, radio, or telephone) and no other people talking to you.
Always take the test in the same environment and at the same hour.
Avoid eating a heavy meal or smoking 2-3 hours prior to testing.
Avoid heavy physical exertion, alcohol, and pharmaceutical stimulants on the test day and the previous day.
You should be relaxed and calm. Lie down and relax for 1-3 minutes before starting the test.

Before the test

Note that you can do the test only if you have set up your A300 at flow.polar.com/start.

The Fitness Test works only with compatible Polar heart rate sensors. The Fitness Test is a Polar proprietary smart coaching feature and requires accurate heart rate variability measurement. This is why you need a Polar heart rate sensor.

Wear your heart rate sensor. For more information, see Wear Heart Rate Sensor.

Before starting the test, make sure your physical settings including training background are accurate in the Flow web service.

Performing the Test

Go to Fitness test > Start test. Your A300 starts searching for your heart rate. Heart rate found and Lie down and relax is shown on the display and the test starts.
Lie down, stay relaxed and limit body movements and communication with other people. The bar on your A300's display fills up as the test progresses.
After the test Test completed is shown and you'll get your test result.
Press DOWN to see your estimated VO_2max. Press START and select Yes to update your VO_2max value, which is shown in Polar Flow web service.

You can interrupt the test in any phase by pressing BACK. Test canceled is displayed.

Troubleshooting:

Touch sensor with A300 is displayed, if A300 can't identify your heart rate sensor. Touch the sensor with your A300 to identify and pair the sensor.
Couldn't find heart rate is displayed, if A300 can't find your heart rate. Check that the heart rate sensor electrodes are wet and that the textile strap fits snugly.
You need a Polar HR sensor is displayed, if A300 can't find a Polar heart rate sensor.

Test Results

Your latest test result is shown in Fitness test > Test results. You can see the results also in your Training Diary in Flow app.

For a visual analysis of your Fitness test results, go to the Flow web service and open the test from your Diary to view the details of the tests you've performed.

Fitness Level Classes

Men

Age / Years	Very low	Low	Fair	Moderate	Good	Very good	Elite
20-24	< 32	32-37	38-43	44-50	51-56	57-62	> 62
25-29	< 31	31-35	36-42	43-48	49-53	54-59	> 59
30-34	< 29	29-34	35-40	41-45	46-51	52-56	> 56
35-39	< 28	28-32	33-38	39-43	44-48	49-54	> 54
40-44	< 26	26-31	32-35	36-41	42-46	47-51	> 51
45-49	< 25	25-29	30-34	35-39	40-43	44-48	> 48
50-54	< 24	24-27	28-32	33-36	37-41	42-46	> 46
55-59	< 22	22-26	27-30	31-34	35-39	40-43	> 43
60-65	< 21	21-24	25-28	29-32	33-36	37-40	> 40

Women

Age / Years	Very low	Low	Fair	Moderate	Good	Very good	Elite
20-24	< 27	27-31	32-36	37-41	42-46	47-51	> 51
25-29	< 26	26-30	31-35	36-40	41-44	45-49	> 49
30-34	< 25	25-29	30-33	34-37	38-42	43-46	> 46
35-39	< 24	24-27	28-31	32-35	36-40	41-44	> 44
40-44	< 22	22-25	26-29	30-33	34-37	38-41	> 41
45-49	< 21	21-23	24-27	28-31	32-35	36-38	> 38
50-54	< 19	19-22	23-25	26-29	30-32	33-36	> 36
55-59	< 18	18-20	21-23	24-27	28-30	31-33	> 33
60-65	< 16	16-18	19-21	22-24	25-27	28-30	> 30

The classification is based on a literature review of 62 studies where VO_2max was measured directly in healthy adult subjects in the USA, Canada and 7 European countries. Reference: Shvartz E, Reibold RC. Aerobic fitness norms for males and females aged 6 to 75 years: a review. Aviat Space Environ Med; 61:3-11, 1990.

Vo_2max

A clear link exists between maximal oxygen consumption (VO2_max) of the body and cardiorespiratory fitness because oxygen delivery to tissues is dependent on lung and heart function. VO2_max (maximal oxygen uptake, maximal aerobic power) is the maximal rate at which oxygen can be used by the body during maximal exercise; it is related directly to the maximal capacity of the heart to deliver blood to the muscles. VO2_max can be measured or predicted by fitness tests (e.g. maximal exercise tests, submaximal exercise tests, Polar Fitness Test). VO2_max is a good index of cardiorespiratory fitness and a good predictor of performance capability in endurance events such as distance running, cycling, cross-country skiing, and swimming.

VO2_max can be expressed either as milliliters per minute (ml/min = ml ■ min-1) or this value can be divided by the person’s body weight in kilograms (ml/kg/min = ml ■ kg-1■ min-1).