OwnIndex And The Polar Fitness Test

Fitness testing has traditionally been performed either in the laboratory or in field conditions. It requires both exercising to exhaustion and testing personnel. Polar has now developed Polar Fitness Test - a breakthrough in the world of fitness testing. It is an easy and safe test to measure cardiovascular/aerobic fitness at rest all by yourself.

The Polar Fitness Test uses your gender, age, height, and body weight plus your level of physical activity, your heart rate and your heart rate variability measured at rest. Lasting no more than 5 minutes, the Polar Fitness Test is as easy as laying down and pressing a button, though you should be free from any distractions during the test.

Once completed, the Polar Fitness Test shows the resulting fitness level as your OwnIndex_s. The result is comparable to VO2_max, the same indicator of aerobic fitness used by professional trainers and athletes. Therefore the range for OwnIndex_s is the same as that for VO2_max. Typical values for unfit sedentary individuals are around 25. Top athletes usually score OwnIndex_s values above 70 (men) and 60 (women). Values as high as 95 can be measured for Olympic level athletes. OwnIndex_s is highest in sports that involve large muscle groups such as cross-country skiing and cycling.

OwnIndexS is most meaningful when following changes in your fitness over a long period of time. You can also find out how fit you are for your gender and age by comparing your result to the global references listed in the Polar S-series manuals.

With Polar Fitness Test you can test your aerobic fitness by yourself, fully automatically and without any exertion. No other equipment other than a heart rate monitor is needed. Polar Fitness Test is as accurate in predicting the VO2_max as any sub-maximal fitness test.

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