Aerobic capacity as an indicator of health

Abstract

The exercise was carried out to evaluate and classify the level of physical fitness as an indicator of health, to measure the aerobic capacity, which in turn indicates the level of physical fitness. To achieve the objective, The most well-known test in the history of physical education is the Cooper running test, which is a maximum and field test, suitable for all age groups, teenagers, women and men, consists of running for 12 minutes, which refers to enduranceaerobics, which is the ability to tolerate fatigue caused by exercise, managing to maintain the pace and intensity for a long time without a considerable drop in physical performance. The sample consisted of 44 2nd year students, in the 1st academic semester of 2022 at the Escola Superior de Ciências do Desporto (ESCIDE) of the Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM). The main measure for assessing aerobic capacity is maximum oxygen consumption (VO2max=distance-504.1/44.9), which indicates the maximum and integrated capacity of the organism to extract, transport and use oxygen molecules as an energy substrate. The evaluation was carried out on an athletics track with a 400 meter loop. Once the Cooper test was completed, the individual results obtained in the evaluation were compared and using the average health indicator Table 1 of maximum VO2 for running, Table 2 women and Table 3 men, whose classification range is between very poor, poor, sufficient, good, excellent and higher education, resulted in an assessment of the students' physical fitness level as 1 poor, 6 sufficient, 11 good, 12 excellent and 14 superior.