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ES Treadmills Owner’s Guide
47
Using The Gerkin Fitness Test
C F: G F T
One way to measure your overall fitness is to take a Gerkin fitness
test. Named after the Arizona researcher who designed this test,
this submaximal treadmill test (submaximal means you work below
maximum effort) is used to predict VO2 max: the volume of oxygen
you can consume while exercising at your maximum capacity. This
particular test has gained great popularity in the firefighter and law
enforcement community. Like most fitness tests, it is classified as
a graded exercise test (GXT). The test is stopped at the point your
heart rate reaches 85% of your age-predicted maximum.
Select the Gerkin test under the Advanced Options key. Enter your
age, which is used to calculate your test termination point.
The Gerkin protocol starts
at 4.5 miles per hour at a 0%
incline. It then increases speed
or incline every 60 seconds. For
example, at the seven-minute
mark, the speed increases to 6
miles per hour while the incline
raises to 8%.
When your heart rate reaches
85% of your age-predicted
maximum, the test waits for
your heart rate to exceed the
target for 15 seconds, then
terminates the test.
Using the
Gerkin Test
The version of the Gerkin
Protocol that TRUE Fitness
uses in its exercise machines
is the new equation of
205.8 – 0.685*age. To better
understand why we selected
this method over the
outdated “220 – age” maximal
heart rate equation, you can
review the scientific paper in
Journal of Exercise Physiology,
a PDF document located at
http://asep.org/Documents/
Robergs2.pdf