Fitness Testing

Contact our fitness specialist at 713-348-4160 to make your appointment today!

Areas of testing:
Body Composition | Cardiovascular | Muscular Fitness | Flexibility

Cardiovascular

Cardiovascular fitness focuses on the ability of the lungs to provide oxygen to the blood and the heart to transport the oxygenated blood to the cells of the body. It is also the ability of the body to sustain an activity for an extended period of time. There are many benefits of regular cardiovascular exercise:

• lower blood pressure
• decrease total cholesterol
• increase aerobic work capacity
• decrease stress reactions and anxiety
• decrease body fat due to utilizing fat as energy

1 Mile Walk Test
This test is appropriate for participants from a wide variety of ages and fitness levels. It is more easily completed than a run test and is safer for the participant. In the one mile walk test, the participant walks 1 mile as quickly as possible. The subject's time to completion of the walk and his or her heart rate is measured.

Bicycle Ergometry
Submaximal Cycle Ergometry is based on the observation that there is a roughly linear relationship between workload and heart rate through much of the heart rate range. The participant will begin pedaling a stationary bike at a given resistance. The resistance will proportionally increase, while the subject's heart rate is being measured.

3-Minute Step Test
Popularized by the YMCA, the 3-Minute step test is a convenient cardiovascular test in both individual- and mass-testing scenarios. In this test, an individual steps on a 12-inch bench for three minutes, then sits so that a cumulative, 1-minute heart rate can be measured. The test uses a sturdy, 12-inch-high bench, a metronome set at 96 bpm (four clicks of the metronome equals one cycle, up 1, 2, down 3, 4), a stopwatch or clock with second hand, stethoscope, and sphygmomanometer.

The Rice University Fitness Testing facilities are located in the East Gym of the Recreation Center. Parking information is available at Rice's maps page.