Cardiorespiratory fitness refers to the body’s (i.e., heart and lungs) ability to uptake oxygen and delivery it efficiently to the working muscles and/or tissues. Cardiorespiratory training usually consists of a warm up, endurance and cool down.
The purpose of a proper warm up is to gradually increase heart rate, respiration and body temperature that will be similar to the activity (endurance phase). Warm up will increase muscle temperature, lubricate joints and reduce the susceptibility of an injury occurring. Activity recovery is recommended for cool down, as it’s purpose is to help the clear out waste products (i.e., lactic acid) and bring the body’s heart rate, respiration and body temperature back down to resting levels.
Below is a sample of an initial cardiorespiratory program for a 20-year old female with a baseline (beginner status) fitness level.
Warm up consists 10 minutes of briskly walking or lightly jogging.
| Training Segment | Time (min) | % of HRR | Actual HR (bpm) |
| Warm- up |
10 |
50-60% |
133-146 |
| Jogging |
1 |
60-70% |
146-160 |
| Walking |
2 |
<60% |
<146 |
Repeat Jog/Walk intervals 10x
Cool Down consists of active recovery; briskly walking for 5 minutes, with 5 minutes of static stretching.