Int J Sports Med 1991; 12(4): 356-362
DOI: 10.1055/s-2007-1024694
© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

A 2-km Walking Test for Assessing the Cardiorespiratory Fitness of Healthy Adults

P. Oja, R. Laukkanen, M. Pasanen, T. Tyry, I. Vuori
  • President Urho Kaleva Kekkonen Institute for Health Promotion Research, Kaupinpuistonkatu 1, SF-33500 Tampere, Finland
This study was financially supported by the Finnish Ministry of Education.
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
14 March 2008 (online)

Abstract

A simple walking test was developed with 159 (females = 80, males = 79) healthy 20-65-year-old subjects. All the subjects first walked the distances of 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 km on a flat dirt road. Half of the participants were tested in the laboratory for maximal oxygen uptake (V̇O2max), and the 2-km test was repeated again twice. In a comparison of the three distances, the 2-km test was repeatable, the most preferable subjectively and the most accurate in predicting V̇O2max. A sex-specific prediction model including walking time, heart rate at the end of the walk, age and body mass index predicted 73 - 75% of the variance in V̇O2max (ml·kg-1 min-1) and that with body weight 66-76%, with a standard error of estimate of the order of 9-15% of the mean. The cross-validation of the models yielded reasonable accuracy in obese men and women and in moderately active men, and less accuracy in moderately active women and highly active men. These results suggest that a fast 2-km walk supplemented with simple measurements is a feasible and accurate alternative for determining the cardiorespiratory fitness of healthy adults.

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