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 (VO2max), 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 VO2max. 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 VO2max (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.