The Rockport Walk fitness test

[MrMasher]

Lots of talk about the Rockport Walk test.

It has taken over from the bike test I believe.

Basically put you have to walk as fast as possible for 1 mile and get your average heart rate measured during the last 1/4 mile.

You need to have your weight, age, gender, completion time and heart rate chucked into a formula.

This will be put into a spreadsheet by your local mirror technician which churns out a value of your VO2.

I had a go today on a treadmill, I'm not telling you what I got DT_Xtremez_15: but I was suprised at my heart rate level from just walking!!

The P Ed intranet site has the spreadsheet.

Also this website has a good descriptor and a online calculator. However, the figure of VO2 came out slightly different from the P Ed spreadsheet, with the P Ed version giving a lower figure by a few points.

I'm going to gym it up over the next few months, so it will be interesting to see if I can use the test as a measure of my improving fitness.

 

[252]

Lots of talk about the Rockport Walk test.

It has taken over from the bike test I believe.

Basically put you have to walk as fast as possible for 1 mile and get your average heart rate measured during the last 1/4 mile.

You need to have your weight, age, gender, completion time and heart rate chucked into a formula.

This will be put into a spreadsheet by your local mirror technician which churns out a value of your VO2.

I had a go today on a treadmill, I'm not telling you what I got DT_Xtremez_15: but I was suprised at my heart rate level from just walking!!

The P Ed intranet site has the spreadsheet.

Also this website has a good descriptor and a online calculator. However, the figure of VO2 came out slightly different from the P Ed spreadsheet, with the P Ed version giving a lower figure by a few points.

I'm going to gym it up over the next few months, so it will be interesting to see if I can use the test as a measure of my improving fitness.

Another simpler test of fitness/improving fitness is your standing(at rest)heart rate.

Measure your standing heart rate in BPM before you start your training regime,as the weeks go by and you get fitter this should fall,simples!.

Allthough this wont quantify your fitness the lowering rate is a sure sign you are getting fitter and good for morale

At the hight of his athletic prowess Lynford Christies standing BPM was only 29.

 

[Realist78]

Another simpler test of fitness/improving fitness is your standing(at rest)heart rate.

Measure your standing heart rate in BPM before you start your training regime,as the weeks go by and you get fitter this should fall,simples!.

Allthough this wont quantify your fitness the lowering rate is a sure sign you are getting fitter and good for morale

At the hight of his athletic prowess Lynford Christies standing BPM was only 29.

Amazing, almost the lowest recorded!

 

[CC]

When the bike test originally came out for over 40s, my old SNCO, who used to run Marathons, failed his test because his heart rate was too high, yet he could run a marathon in 3.5 hrs.

Also, I'm sure I read somewhere that Seb Coe had an extremely slow heart rate, hence he was the best middle distance runner of his era.

 

[Joe_90]

I remember a Chief Tech telling me he failed the bike test before even starting. He had a coffee and two cigarettes for breakfast, followed by another smoke in the car on the way to the gym. The mirror tech hooked up the heart rate monitor and it was already too high.DT_Xtremez_42:

 

[252]

Amazing, almost the lowest recorded!

Have just googled it (a bit bored).....lowest recorded is Miguel Indurain,5 times Tour de France winner at 28BPM.

 

[CC]

Have just googled it (a bit bored).....lowest recorded is Miguel Indurain,5 times Tour de France winner at 28BPM.

Friggin hell, no wonder he won the Tour de France 5 times!!

 

[NotAnIDOYet]

Have just googled it (a bit bored).....lowest recorded is Miguel Indurain,5 times Tour de France winner at 28BPM.

Surely the lowest recorded heart rate would be 0! Not particualry healthy granted.

I am taking the Lambeth Walk on Thursday, quite worried about it but at least a fail will force the gym issue in our office. I would quite happily go to Station circuits 3 times a week on top of the bike training I do.

Not sure how scientific the results are, I would think the only way to accurately measure VO2max would be to link you up to one of those lung function monitor things while you exercise.

 

[fatboy11]

Friggin hell, no wonder he won the Tour de France 5 times!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6273202.stm

 

[252]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6273202.stm

A good link but it failed to mention that cycling and the tour de France in particular is awash with performance enhancing drugs(amphetimines) and that the average life span of a tour winner is less than 60 years.DT_Xtremez_09:

 

[fatboy11]

A good link but it failed to mention that cycling and the tour de France in particular is awash with performance enhancing drugs(amphetimines) and that the average life span of a tour winner is less than 60 years.DT_Xtremez_09:

Granted there is still a bad element, but your about 40 yrs out of date re amphetamines (they killed Tommy Simpson!!)... far more sophisticated these days, more along EPO/blood doping lines. Shame ...:S

 

[252]

Granted there is still a bad element, but your about 40 yrs out of date re amphetamines (they killed Tommy Simpson!!)... far more sophisticated these days, more along EPO/blood doping lines. Shame ...:S

I stand corrected as regards the drugs in fashion.....veering back on topic cycling or a good quality exercise bike is a great low impact way to lower standing heart rate and therefore help with passing the Rockford test.

With an exercise bike there is no need to go mad if your out of shape just start of with a few minutes and add another minute every few days or so.

 

[fatboy11]

I stand corrected as regards the drugs in fashion.....vering back on topic cycling or a good quality exercise bike is a great low impact way to lower standing heart rate and therefore help with passing the Rockford test.

With an exercise bike there is no need to go mad if your out of shape just start of with a few minutes and add another minute every few days or so.

Very true ... plus more enjoyable as you get to go further afield ...

 

[NotAnIDOYet]

Surely the lowest recorded heart rate would be 0! Not particualry healthy granted.

I am taking the Lambeth Walk on Thursday, quite worried about it but at least a fail will force the gym issue in our office. I would quite happily go to Station circuits 3 times a week on top of the bike training I do.

Not sure how scientific the results are, I would think the only way to accurately measure VO2max would be to link you up to one of those lung function monitor things while you exercise.

Right then, I failed the test due to my predicted VO2 Max score. I am on the heavy side but what has disturbed me is this website. When I input my details it comes up with a wildly different (better) score than the PTIs did with Excel. Now I could do with losing a few (lot of) pounds but if I take the figures from the site things are not quite as bad as they seem.

Would there be any mechanism to check the formula the PTIs use? Or does it just seem bitter?

 

[GOV1]

Right then, I failed the test due to my predicted VO2 Max score. I am on the heavy side but what has disturbed me is this website. When I input my details it comes up with a wildly different (better) score than the PTIs did with Excel. Now I could do with losing a few (lot of) pounds but if I take the figures from the site things are not quite as bad as they seem.

Would there be any mechanism to check the formula the PTIs use? Or does it just seem bitter?

I did the same at the local gym, key set for 1.6 kms.

Took 15 mins to walk the said mile at 6,2 kms, couldn't belive my heart rate.

Did the Rockport walk web site test and got a fair. Never in my 25 years have I failed. Lots of work to be done then, or what !!!!

 

[NotAnIDOYet]

I did the same at the local gym, key set for 1.6 kms.

Took 15 mins to walk the said mile at 6,2 kms, couldn't belive my heart rate.

Did the Rockport walk web site test and got a fair. Never in my 25 years have I failed. Lots of work to be done then, or what !!!!

Did 14 minutes at 133 bpm, PTI told me well done - good times/HR!

Put numbers into computer and got a VO2Max of 26, Brian Mac website gives it as 35. That is quite a discrepancy which is why I am worried about their spreadsheet. It would still mean a fail for me but would leave me with a lot less work to do to pass (my aim is the deep blue - 6 months in the sand should sort that). My worry is that using their formula there is no healthy way of getting to where I need to be. The weight loss at a higher than average loss rate would take a year! That is time I do not have.

Before anyone jumps on the bandwagon and moans about the fatties - yes I know I am carrying the extra weight and I know I have to make the time to get to the gym (currently train on a bike turbo trainer at home - 60 minutes a session using the Sufferfest training videos), the PTI did not believe the weight I told him until I got on his scales.

I am worried about this...

On the plus side went to Circuits yesterday and hit the gym for a 20 minute run this morning. I now cannot walk properly (poor knees being the reason I don't do the MSFT to start with!)

 

[MrMasher]

Did the test on a treadmill on Monday and Tuesday. All data chucked into the pti spreadsheet.
I got 32 on Monday and 36 on Tuesday. On Tuesday I shortened my time by 50 seconds and had a lower heart rate by 7 beats per minute.
A relatively small margin but it did make a difference.

What I can't find out is the targets we need to be aiming for.

I need some advice on my training. I always start on the bike for 20 minutes and then go on the treadmill for some rehab forwards and backwards walking on the max incline. I'll follow that up with with 10 to 20 minutes on the cross trainer.
Next I do some stretching, hamstrings and quads, alternating with sit ups and Swiss ball squats.

Normally I'll be there for about an hour and a half. Should I being doing this each day mon-fri or should I have a days rest in between, ie mon-weds-fri?

My short term aim is to improve my fitness and get upgraded enough to do the rockport test whilst building my muscles above and below my knees. Long term I'm aiming for the full package, running!

 

[justintime129]

Did the test on a treadmill on Monday and Tuesday. All data chucked into the pti spreadsheet.
I got 32 on Monday and 36 on Tuesday. On Tuesday I shortened my time by 50 seconds and had a lower heart rate by 7 beats per minute.
A relatively small margin but it did make a difference.

What I can't find out is the targets we need to be aiming for.

I need some advice on my training. I always start on the bike for 20 minutes and then go on the treadmill for some rehab forwards and backwards walking on the max incline. I'll follow that up with with 10 to 20 minutes on the cross trainer.
Next I do some stretching, hamstrings and quads, alternating with sit ups and Swiss ball squats.

Normally I'll be there for about an hour and a half. Should I being doing this each day mon-fri or should I have a days rest in between, ie mon-weds-fri?

My short term aim is to improve my fitness and get upgraded enough to do the rockport test whilst building my muscles above and below my knees. Long term I'm aiming for the full package, running!

.
I take it you've googled about cardio.
There's so many different answers out there, but the general concensus is it's ok. If you do weights they recommend that you take a break between weight sessions, but carry on with the cardio sessions. I suppose it's down to how you feel and are you benefiting from what you are doing now. I use to go to the gym 7 days a week and it started getting to be a chore but now I go 3/4 times a week and I look forward to going and feel better, but thats me, plus u don't have to take a ft every 6 months.

 

[Fat Michael Owen]

The VO2 Max scores are carried over from the bleep test score (46.6 for under 30s). Did the test at my nearest base and they wouldn't let us try for light or dark blue. Good job really, would have been wasted effort!

As for the formula, it would seem they are using two. One for the over 40s and another for the under 40s. According to another forum the over 40s formula is very similar to the BrianMac website. Roughly:
132.853 - (0.0769 × Weight) - (0.3877 × Age) + (6.315 × Gender) - (3.2649 × Time) - (0.1565 × Heart rate).
Weight is in pounds and for gender Male =1 and Female =0.

The under 40s is allegedly:
51.047 - (0.271 x Weight) - (0.231 x Age) + (8.339 x Gender) + (635.012 x 1/Time) - (0.225 x Heart rate).
Weight is in Kilos and for gender Male =1 and Female = 0.

 

[OneTimeSooty]

Just passed my rockport walk - it would seem the formula above is good - my recorded VO2 max is 46.6 on the PTIs spreadsheet - figues of weight 71, age 31, male, time 12.14 and HR of 172.