This document discusses cardiorespiratory fitness and how to develop it. It explains that cardiorespiratory fitness is important for daily activities and disease prevention. Aerobic exercise involves oxygen use, while anaerobic is short bursts without oxygen. The heart and lungs adapt to exercise by increasing heart rate, stroke volume, and cardiac output. Aerobic capacity is determined genetically and improved by training. Continuous, interval, and fartlek training methods can improve cardiorespiratory endurance by following the FIT principle of frequency, intensity, and time of exercise.

1. Chapter 4: Developing
Cardiorespiratory Fitness
McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2012 McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved.

2. 4-2
Why is cardiorespiratory fitness
important for you?
• Cardiorespiratory endurance is the ability
to perform whole-body activities for an
extended period of time without fatigue
• Some level of cardiorespiratory fitness is
required in order to perform daily activities
• May also greatly reduce the chances of
cardiovascular disease

3. 4-3
What is the difference between
aerobic vs. anaerobic
activities?
• Anaerobic metabolism:
– Kicks in when short bursts of energy are required
– Does not involve the use of oxygen
• Aerobic metabolism:
– Occurs when activity is prolonged
– Involves the use of oxygen
• In most activities both systems function
simultaneously

4. 4-4
How does exercise affect the
function of the heart?
• Cardiovascular
system’s four
components:
– Heart
– Lungs
– Blood vessels
– Blood
• Improvements in
endurance are the
results of improvements
in these 4 components
Figure 4-2

5. 4-5
• As you exercise, the heart must pump
more in order to transport oxygenated
blood to the muscles
• The heart adapts via three
mechanisms:
–Increased heart rate
–Increased stroke volume
–Increased cardiac output

6. 4-6
What determines how efficiently
the body is using oxygen?
• Aerobic capacity/maximum aerobic capacity
– Greatest rate at which oxygen can be taken in
and used during exercise
– Largely, genetically determined range
– More active individuals will tend to have higher
levels and training tends to enhance aerobic
capacity within an individual’s range

7. 4-7
• Range of maximal aerobic capacity,
determined by muscle fiber type
– Fast-twitch fibers
• Fast contracting fibers which are not as dependent
on oxygen and tire rapidly
• Responsible for speed and power
– Slow-twitch fibers
• Slow contracting fibers that are fatigue resistant
and require large amounts of oxygen
• More useful for long duration, endurance activities

8. 4-8
– If you have a greater
percentage of slow
twitch fibers you will
tend to have a higher
aerobic capacity
– Aerobic capacity vs.
workload and relative
percentages of
maximum capacity
Figure 4-3

9. 4-9
How do you know what your
aerobic capacity is?
• Accurate testing is done in the laboratory
setting:
– Involves treadmill running or cycling at a given
intensity while monitoring heart rate and oxygen
consumption
• Impractical for average person
• Heart rate monitoring is an indirect method for
monitoring oxygen uptake

10. 4-10
The FIT Principle
• Basic principles of what is necessary to
gain a training effect from an exercise
program
• FIT:
– Frequency of activity
– Intensity of activity
– Time or duration of activity

11. 4-11
What training techniques can be
used to improve
cardiorespiratory endurance?
• Types of training
– Continuous or sustained training
– Interval training
– Fartlek
• Amount of improvements is largely
determined by initial fitness levels

12. 4-12
Continuous Training
• Exercises performed at the same level of
intensity for long periods of time
• FIT principle should be incorporated to training
• Type: Must be aerobic
• Determining intensity by monitoring heart rate:
– Heart rate can be checked on the thumb side of the
wrist (radial artery), and in the neck (carotid)
– Heart rate monitors can also be utilized to measure
heart rate and effort

13. 4-13
• Target Heart Rate
– Determine maximum heart
rate:
• 220-age = HRmax
• Heart Rate Reserve (HRR)
– Difference between resting
HRrest and HRmax
• Karvonen Equation
– Exercise HR = % of target
intensity(HRmax – HRrest) +
Hrrest
• Rate of Perceived Exertion
(RPE)
Figure 4-5

14. 4-14
Time or duration of activity
• Unfit individuals should engage in no less
than 20 minutes of continuous exercise to
improve cardiorespiratory endurance
• For healthy, fit individuals:
– 30 minutes of moderate intensity activity 5
days a week OR
– 20 minutes of vigorous intensity activity 3
days a week

15. 4-15
Advanced Training Methods
• Interval training
– Alternating periods of intense activity with periods of
active rest
– Allows for more work to be done at more intense
workloads, over a longer period of time
• Fartlek training
– Similar to interval training in the fact activity occurs
over a specific period of time but pace and speed are
not specified
– Consists of varied terrain which incorporates varying
degrees of hills
– Dynamic form of training

16. 4-16
Good Aerobic Activities for
Improving Cardiorespiratory
Endurance• Walking
• Running
• Swimming
• Aerobic exercise
– Floor, step, circuit, water, or
kickboxing
• Cycling
• Spinning
• In-line skating
• Hiking or backpacking
• Rock climbing Figure 4-6

17. 4-17
What is your level of
cardiorespiratory endurance?
• Multiple tests can be done to assess
fitness
– Monitoring of maximum aerobic capacity and
oxygen use
• Maximum aerobic capacity can be
predicted or estimated by measuring heart
rate at varying workloads