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The FitTrack Index as fitness indicator: A pilot study


Dina Christina Janse van Rensburg
Catharina Cornelia Grant
Audrey Jansen van Rensburg
Roelf Petrus Gerhardus Botha
Paola Silvia Wood
Kim Nolte
Lizelle Fletcher
Peet Jacobus du Toit
Michael Sean Pepper
Pieter Ernst Kruger

Abstract

Background: The FitTrack Index is a web-based programme developed in South Africa and widely used by athletes to indicate their fitness. A need exists for a self-managed, noninvasive tool to evaluate and categorise health-related fitness in different population groups. The aim of this study was to compare the FitTrack Index with a reliable measure of cardio-respiratory fitness as indicated by maximal oxygen uptake (direct VO2max).

Methods & results: During a 12-week cross-sectional, descriptive pilot study the direct laboratory tested VO2max indicated a moderate to strong correlation with the FitTrack Index (Spearman's rho = 0.439, p = 0.089 at baseline; Spearman's rho = 0.853, p < 0.001 after 12 weeks).

Conclusions: These results suggest that the web-based FitTrack Index may be considered an appropriate tool to evaluate exercise capacity and cardiovascular fitness in healthy individuals following an aerobic training programme.

Keywords: Aerobic fitness, Exercise ability, Recreational fitness, Cardiovascular fitness, Fitness indication, VO2max


Journal Identifiers


eISSN: 2071-9736
print ISSN: 1025-9848