Cardiorespiratory Assessment and Prescription

Prior to beginning work on this assignment, watch the Cardiovascular Benefits of Exercise (Links to an external site.) video and review the required resources in this week’s section. For this assignment, you will assess your personal cardiorespiratory fitness level and develop a cardiorespiratory exercise plan for yourself. If you are unable to personally complete any of these tasks due to health concerns, please contact your instructor immediately.

For this assignment, you will:

a. Examine the relationship between cardiorespiratory endurance and wellness using two examples from two different scholarly sources and/or credible sources (outside your course text).

b. Assess your cardiorespiratory fitness level.

• Complete either “The 1.5-Mile Run” (Laboratory 3.1A), “The 1-Mile Walk” (Laboratory 3.1B), or the “Step Test” (Laboratory 3.1D) Assessment (these labs are found in your textbook). If you choose the step test, you will need a metronome (may be available for free as an app).
  • Summarize the methods of the test.
  • Provide your exact results.
    • Length of time to complete The 1.5-Mile Run/1-Mile Walk Test or
    • Total (recovery index based on post-exercise heart rate (beats per minute-BPM), as indicated in laboratory 3.1, for the Step Test.
  • Interpret your assessment results in terms of your overall cardiovascular endurance.
  • Identify your fitness category based on your gender and age range (the latter will apply for the walk and run assessment).

c. Develop a complete cardiorespiratory exercise plan that will help you achieve the next level of fitness in the assessment chosen above.

• The first step for developing an exercise plan is to determine your fitness goals. Typically, your goals should be to increase to the next higher fitness category level or to maintain your current fitness level. For this assignment, assume your goal is to achieve the next level of cardiorespiratory fitness for your selected test.
• The next step is to create a complete personal exercise plan by integrating the components of the Frequency, Intensity, Time, and Type (FITT) principle. For this assignment, briefly summarize each of the FITT principles. Then, give a specific example for each principle within your plan.
  • Frequency: How many days per week are you going to perform cardiorespiratory exercise? Provide a justification for your selection. Remember that frequency is dependent upon intensity (below).
  • Intensity: Calculate your target heart rate (THR), as outlined in chapter 3. Laboratory 3.3 will help in guiding you through this calculation.
    • Indicate the target heart rate range at which you should complete your training.
  • Time (or duration): How long will you exercise for? Remember to base your decision on your current level of fitness and your training intensity.
  • Type (or mode): List some additional activities that you may be able to engage in to meet your cardiorespiratory exercise plans. Refer to Table 3.2 for ideas for different activities, however, feel free to explore activities other than the ones listed in this textbook as well.
• Lastly, your exercise plan should contain an activity schedule in table form , so that it is easy for the plan recipient to follow. Complete Laboratory 3.4 in your course text, using the FITT information you came up with above. Include the weekly activity schedule illustration of your exercise plan from this assessment in your assignment submission. Be sure to also include a note on warm-up and cool-down information below your illustration.
• Submit your assignment for grading using the Assignment Submission Button.

The Cardiorespiratory Assessment and Prescription Assignment

• Must be at least five double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Writing Center (Links to an external site.).
• Must include a separate title page with the following:
  • Title of Assignment
  • Student’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted
• Must include an introduction and conclusion.
• Must use at least two scholarly and/or credible sources in addition to the course text.
  • The Scholarly, Peer Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.) table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.
• Must document all sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
• Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.