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Heartmonitors Catalog  ·  Polar Fitness Test

INFORMATION ABOUT OWNZONE and OWN INDEX FEATURES

Polar Fitness Test  ·  OwnZone Basic   ·   OwnZone Advanced   ·  Using OwnZone   ·   Heart Rate Variability (HRV)

Own Index and the Polar Fitness Test Before now, fitness testing had been reserved as a tool primarily for the professional athlete. However, Polar has developed an easy and safe way to measure cardiovascular fitness at rest called the Polar Fitness Test. The Polar Fitness Test uses your gender, age, height, and body weight plus your level of physical activity, your heart rate and your heart rate variability measured at rest. Lasting no more than 5 minutes, the Polar Fitness Test is as easy as laying down and pressing a button, though you should be free from any distractions during the test. Once completed, the Polar Fitness Test shows the resulting fitness level as your OwnIndex. The result is comparable to VO2max, the same indicator of aerobic fitness used by professional trainers and athletes ranging from 20, the fitness level of an unfit sedentary individual, to 95, the fitness level of Olympic athletes. By comparing your result to the global references listed in the Polar M-series manuals, you can get a pretty good idea of how fit you are for your sex and age. For instance, if you're a 33-year-old woman with an index between 34-37 you would have "average fitness" compared to other women of the same age. While an index below 34 would mean you are below the average and an index above 37 would mean you are above the average. The Polar Fitness Test is a safe way for anyone to self-test his or her fitness level because it doesn't require physical exercise at the moment of testing. Polar Fitness Test is as accurate in predicting the VO2max as any sub-maximal fitness test.

OwnZone heart rate variability (HRV) based method (OZ.V) or an age based method (OZ.A) is used.

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) based method

The HRV based method calculates the individual training heart rate zone during graded exercise. Polar heart rate monitor with OwnZone feature guides the user with graphical bars on the display to start the exercise with slow walk and increase the speed to normal walk, fast walk, slow jogging and fast jogging. During OwnZone determination heart rate should be kept below 100 bpm and increased about 10 bpm at each of the following stage. OwnZone appears typically on the 3^rd or 4^th stage (in 5-6 minutes). This is done during a 2-10 minute warm-up routine recommended before any exercise session. The determination is based on the plateau of the heart rate variability decrease, which is a direct consequence of the increase in heart rate with exercise. This plateau is defined of the short term variable (Poincaré plot, SD1) of the heart rate variability and shown as lower and upper heart rate limits on the display.

OwnZone basic

OwnZone basic (OZ basic) consists of one heart rate zone. The lower limit of the zone is based on the plateau of the heart rate variability decrease and corresponds to approximately 65% of the maximum heart rate. The upper limit of the zone is calculated by adding a fixed number of beats (30) to the lower limit, so that the upper limit of the zone corresponds to 82 % of the maximum heart rate. In cases where the heart rate variability during OwnZone determination does not decrease low enough or is too low to start with, the target heart rates are corrected by the % heart rate values calculated from the age predicted (220-age) maximum heart rate. The lower limit is not more than 80 % HR_max and the upper limit is not more than 85 % HR_max.

OwnZone advanced

OwnZone advanced consists of two target heart rate zones; low (OZ Lo) and high (OZ Hi). The lower limit of the "low zone" is based on the plateau of the heart rate variability decrease and corresponds approximately 65% of the maximum heart rate. The upper limit of the "high zone" is calculated by adding a fixed number of beats (40) to the lower limit of "low zone". "Low zone" and "high zone" are calculated by dividing this 40 beats into two equal zones, each of those 20 beats. "Low zone" corresponds to 65-78 % of the maximum heart rate and "hard zone" to 78-87 % of the maximum heart rate. In cases where the heart rate variability during exercise does not decrease low enough or is too low to start with, the target heart rates are corrected by the % heart rate values calculated from the age predicted (220-age) maximum heart rate. The lower limit of the "low zone" is not more than 80 % HR_max, and the upper limit of the "high zone" not more than 95% HR_max.

Using OwnZone feature

The OwnZone procedure can be repeated conveniently even in the beginning of every exercise session. It should be performed always when changing exercise environment and/or exercise mode or having abnormal feelings of physiological state at the start of the exercise. The heart rate monitor saves the latest OwnZone limits. Because the OwnZone basic area is rather wide (e.g. in a 20-year-old person, OZ.A at maximum 40 beats), the exercise intensity can be targeted either close to the lower or upper limit of OwnZone basic. The "low" and "high" zones of the OwnZone advanced help the user to better meet the exercise intensity needed. The lower limit of the OwnZone basic and the "low zone" of the OwnZone advanced correspond to light, and at most to moderate exercise intensity. Exercise at this intensity can be conducted for extensive periods of time and often; daily and even several times a day. The exercise is targeted to health and weight loss-related exercise for sedentary and less fit individuals, for those rehabilitating from a disease or for athletes recovering from more intensive training. The upper limit of the OwnZone basic and the "high zone" of the OwnZone advanced correspond to moderate, and at most to hard exercise intensity, which typically targets to fitness benefits.

The latest position stand of American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM 1998) for the recommended quantity and quality of exercise for developing and maintaining cardio respiratory fitness in healthy adults recommends 55/65-90 % of maximum heart rate for the intensity of training. The lower intensity values, i.e. 55-64 %HR_max are most applicable to individuals who are fairly unfit. The recommended duration corresponds to 2 min-1 hour repeated 3-5 times a week. The duration is dependent on the intensity; thus, low-intensity activity should be conducted over a longer period of time (30 min or more), and, conversely, individuals training at higher levels of intensity should train for at least 20 min or longer.

Age based method

The age based method is used in the following cases provided that there has not been previous successful HRV based determination (OZ.L): too fast increase in the intensity during warm-up, muscle artifacts or other disturbances, or abnormal autonomic nervous system response make it impossible to determine the plateau of the heart rate variability decrease.

The age based method uses the age predicted maximum heart rate formula (220- age). In the OwnZone basic the 65-85 % HR_max target heart rate zone is calculated. In the OwnZone advanced for the "low zone" the 65-78% HR_max and for the "high zone" the 78-90 %HR_max target heart rate zones are calculated. The heart rate monitor shows this on the display (OZ.A).

Benefits

The OwnZone feature offers a safe light to moderate intensity exercise zone determination individually. The maximum heart rate measured in the laboratory gives the most reliable basis for the target zone determination, but the HRV based OwnZone is more sensitive than the laboratory tests, because the user can repeat the determination as often as he/she wishes. This is needed, because maximum and sub maximum heart rate responses change within individuals even daily. Heart rate is individual due to age, fitness level and gender. In addition, factors like the intensity and mode of exercise, environmental temperature, body position, state of mood and eating and drinking habits affect the heart rate response.

Reference: American College of Sports Medicine. Position Stand: The recommended quantity and quality of exercise for developing and maintaining cardio respiratory and muscular fitness, and flexibility in healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc 30(6), 975-991, 1998.