TAKE A BREATHER AND LEARN...
Multiple definitions exist to what aerobic fitness is, as well as multiple ways to improve a person's aerobic fitness. Diverse exercise lab and field testing protocols exist to evaluate, estimate, predict, or measure a person's aerobic fitness.
While I will not include all possible definitions of aerobic fitness, I will address a few. First, let's establish an understanding of what an "aerobic activity" would be. Simply put, an aerobic activity is a physical task in which the majority of the energy is created aerobically, meaning that at least 51% of the energy to pay for the activity analyzed, was created using processes that include Oxygen as a crucial part of the energy production.
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While any activity and exercise is "paid" for with both energy created aerobically and anaerobically, it is the dominant energy production process that "gives" the activity its characterization as aerobic or anaerobic, and in some cases such as a 50:50 split, no specific categorization. The need and aspiration for aerobic fitness is rooted in the understanding that aerobic energy production yields more energy (mostly ATP as the metabolic coin of choice) per substrate catabolized (broken down) compared to anaerobic (non-aerobic) energy production processes.
Ultimately, energy production capacities are determined by the body's many cells, and their collective aerobic energy production capacities, that can be increased as a positive adaptation to exercise, physical activity, sport participation, and competing in sports. Since aerobic energy production is governed by the cells, it is cardinal that Oxygen actually make it into the cells, and that the cells have the ability to actually use the Oxygen within the cells.
Aerobic fitness begins chronologically with the ability to breath in air (a mixture of gases, water vapor, and particles that include Oxygen) to the lungs via the airways, then transfer the Oxygen from the lungs via the alveoli to the blood stream, to be circulated nearby the cells. The cells then have the opportunity to extract the Oxygen from the blood stream into the cells themselves.
Once the cells have the Oxygen within, their ability to make use of the Oxygen determines the overall capacity of each cell to create energy aerobically, and in turn, the overall body's capacity to create aerobic energy.One of the important components that promote greater and better Oxygen usage in the cells, is the concentration of aerobic enzymes within the cell and especially the mitochondria (plural for mitochondrion).
Thus, Aerobic fitness is the outcome of a multi-factorial process that depends on the physiological capacity of the respiratory system (Minute Ventilation; VE L/min) to exchange air between the environment and the lungs, the physiological capacity of the cardiovascular system (Cardiac Output; CO L/min) to pump and circulate blood, and the cells capacity to extract (bring into the cell) and use the Oxygen.
Aerobic fitness is also known as Cardiorespiratory Fitness or CRF for short. The ultimate physiological measurement that represents CRF is called VO2. VO2 is the scientific abbreviation used to represent the volume of Oxygen consumed by the body. V for volume, since Oxygen is a gas and quantified as a volume; O2 is how Oxygen is represented in chemistry. Learn more about VO2 in one of my other posts to follow shortly.
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