How to improve fitness quickly?

[02GF74]

Wanna judge your fitness level honestly...?
then do the Cooper test..
warm up 10 mins.. then run for 12 mins and measure the distance covered.. compare to the table below . the measurements are in miles btw..
it just sounds like you have very poor base fitness, I fear



MEN
AGE 18-28 29-39 40-50 50+
HIGH 1.85+ 1.65+ 1.50+ 1.35+
GOOD 1.60/1.84 1.50/1.64 1.40/1.49 1.25/1.35
AVERAGE 1.40/1.59 1.35/1.49 1.25/1.40 1.10/1.24
LOW <1.40 <1.35 <1.25 <1.10

WOMEN
AGE 18-28 29-39 40-50 50+
HIGH 1.55+ 1.40+ 1.25+ 1.15+
GOOD 1.36/1.54 1.25/1.39 1.15/1.24 1.05/1.14
AVERAGE 1.20/1.35 1.05/1.24 1.00/1.14 .90/1.04
LOW <1.20 <1.05 <1.00 .90

I don't understand that table.... and has been mentioned earlier, what exaclty is fitness.

you can get a top notch swimmer, top TDF cyclist, a 1500 m runner, a marthon runner and a 100 m sprinter, all of them very fit as far as their own sport goes but my momney would be on the 1500 m runner to do best in this test.

A 100 m runner can be very fit and fast but is never gonna do well in a marathon and so on.

Hence is all a bit pointless test wise.

 

[jimboalee]

I asked the question "Define fitness", and then went on to agree that middle distance running is a fair measure.

Once a man has speared an antelope, he has to run after it and retreive it before the cats can get it. - hence "evolved to do".

The dictionary definition is "ability to transport oxygen and fuel to the muscles for a sustained period".

Running after an antelope for an hour until it dies, IMHO, is what humans should be best at. Not riding a wheeled machine or even swimming across a river. Not even kicking a pig's bladder round a field

 

[I am Spartacus]

You need to read around the subject a bit.. there are plenty of resources online.
The OP has a certain degree of difficulty with his cardiovascular endurance... the Cooper test ( I regret that the table formatting isnt easy to read) is one of several sub maximal tests that have been developed by sports scientists (this one by KH Cooper) to guage CV fitness.
Why....? 'cos its relatively easy to do... needs hardly any equipment and is safer than a maximal test.
CV endurance.. NOT explosive strength.. the varying difficulties of individual sports are not addressed... this is basically a test for NON elite athletes....

do you understand now?

 

[pubrunner]

I asked the question "Define fitness", and then went on to agree that middle distance running is a fair measure.

Once a man has speared an antelope, he has to run after it and retreive it before the cats can get it. - hence "evolved to do".

The dictionary definition is "ability to transport oxygen and fuel to the muscles for a sustained period".

Running after an antelope for an hour until it dies, IMHO, is what humans should be best at. Not riding a wheeled machine or even smimming across a river. Not even kicking a pig's bladder round a field

+1

Fitness may be defined as being the extent to which an individual can repeat or continue a given aerobic exercise within a certain timescale.

Within a regular training regime, Intensity is the best PRODUCER of fitness. If you want to become fitter, it's always - within reason - better to upgrade the intensity of your workouts, instead of their volume or frequency. Be careful not to increase training volume & intensity at the same time - you will either feel 'rundown' or get injured (or both).

Carrying out some intense training sessions is the optimal way both to produce and preserve fitness.

Running sessions (once a week) along the following lines are good :

5-8 minute gentle warmup, then do . . .

40 seconds '*effort' and then just 20 seconds jogged recovery; repeat this about 6 - 8 times. (40 seconds effort then 20 seconds recovery X 6-8 times). Over time, you should be able to do 12-15 (or more) of the efforts.

Finish with a 5-8 min warm-down.
* effort should be no slower than 800 metres pace. In 40 seconds, you should be covering between 150-200 metres.

Or

5-8 minute gentle warm-up, then do . . .

4 mins *effort (slightly over 10K race pace) followed by 1 minute jogged recovery. Repeat efforts 3 or 4 times. (4 minutes effort then 1 minute recovery X 3-4 times).

Finish with a 5-8 min warm-down.
* effort should be faster than you'd race 10K

When doing effort sessions, try to keep the level of effort consistent; eg you should not be doing 200 metres in the first 40 seconds effort and then 150 metres in the next.

During these sessions, the jogged recovery time does seem very short; but if you stick with them, within 10-14 days, you will notice an improvement in your ability to recover after each effort.

 

[jimboalee]

I asked the question "Define fitness", and then went on to agree that middle distance running is a fair measure.

Once a man has speared an antelope, he has to run after it and retreive it before the cats can get it. - hence "evolved to do".

The dictionary definition is "ability to transport oxygen and fuel to the muscles for a sustained period".

Running after an antelope for an hour until it dies, IMHO, is what humans should be best at. Not riding a wheeled machine or even swimming across a river. Not even kicking a pig's bladder round a field

Corrected that spelling error. I never did like 'smimming'.

 

[lukea6]

Thanks all.
I'll give the tests a try and attempt some running!