PHYSICAL ENDURANCE
For anyone to function at the peak of their potential, you need
to be physically fit. Generally, fit people are:
- more productive at work
- have better immune systems
- have greater mental agility
- less likely to suffer from depression
To be physically fit, our heart, lungs and muscles have to work
at maximum efficiency. We draw oxygen in through our lungs, pass
it into our blood streams which pumps it around our bodies delivering
it finally to our muscles. Here, we use the oxygen to release the
energy we need to drive our muscles during exercise. How much energy
is delivered dictates how much exercise we can do
To be a Superhuman fitness is essential.
The Test
We used one of the most advanced tests of physical fitness available
today.
Our contestants had to cycle on a bike that started off very easy
but became progressively harder until they could not cycle any more.
While they were cycling, our expert analysed the air they each breathed
out to see how their heart, lungs, blood and muscles were all working
together to help them exercise.
We measured their performance in two ways:
1) VO2 MAX: this is our contestant's maximum ability to
take up and use oxygen, to make fuel in their muscles.
2) Anaerobic Threshold: this is the point where our contestants
feel that burning leg pain when they are exercising very hard, which
means their bodies cannot quite get enough oxygen in to supply their
energy demands, so it finds other ways of finding that energy to keep
moving.
Initially, our contestant's muscles produce energy using oxygen
(known as aerobic exercise). But as the cycling gets more and more
difficult, they have to work harder and harder and they won't be
able to deliver enough oxygen to their muscles to meet demand. It's
at this point that their muscles have to resort to anaerobic metabolism
which doesn't need oxygen. The less fit a contestant was, the sooner
this happened. However, they will all reach a point when they can't
do any more cycling.
We assessed the total amount of oxygen we expected each contestant
to use up based on their age, gender and weight. If our contestants
had Superhuman fitness, they should have done better than this.
And the further they go beyond this, the better they will do.
On a psychological level, our contestants are challenging themselves
as well as competing against each other. It is also extremely hard
physical work so you have to keep pushing yourself through the pain
barrier and keep motivating yourself to keep on going for as long
as possible.
The Expert
Helen Luery - Exercise
Physiologist, UCL
Why Is It Superhuman To Be Physically Fit?
Your overall fitness level is a combination of your genes, your
environment and any training you have undertaken. The genetic component
is your body shape, the physiology of your muscles, heart and lungs
and your individual psychological drive to do exercise. So you genes
dictate whether you stay at home and watch TV or head off for a
workout at the gym!
The level of training that you do is important as is staying active
and healthy but someone who is a couch potato could still do well
on this test because of the genes they are born with.
For most people, the fitter you are the more productive you will
be at work. You will be less susceptible to disease, including cancer
and more resistant to infection. You will function better mentally
and be less likely to suffer from depression. You will be better
able to cope in heat.
Fitness and VO2 Max
Endurance performance relates to how well three blocks of tissue
in our bodies interact:
- our Lungs (how well we put fuel into your blood)
- our Heart (how well we can deliver this fuel) and
- our Muscles (how well we extract this fuel from the blood
and convert it into energy).
It also relates to the richness and quality of our blood (how much
fuel we can carry). VO2 MAX measures how well our lungs, heart,
blood and muscles interact and it relates to the maximum amount
of oxygen (fuel) our bodies can use.
You will perform badly at our VO2 MAX test if, for example, your
lungs are poor if you smoke or you have a genetically weak heart.
However, most people have a healthy heart, lungs and muscles so
we should all scores the same in a VO2 MAX test. But we don't!
Why? Three factors are involved:
Factor One: Genes
Your genes can give you a big heart or lungs, particularly rich
blood or particularly efficient muscles. Even when you compare people
who haven't trained and are physically unfit you will see differences
due to genes - for example on the playground some kids are simply
just better than others. Your genes can also influence your desire
to do exercise, the psychology of going to train or staying at home
and sitting down. Studies of twins have shown a strong genetic component
in our desire to do exercise.
Factor Two: Environment
You will do badly at this VO2 max test if your body has been weakened
- e.g. from smoking, heart disease or nutritional deficiencies.
Factor Three: Training
Everybody can improve their VO2 max score by training. BUT, once
again, your genetic makeup strongly determines how well training
will improve your score. Endurance training has been also been shown
to elevate our moods and help depression.
Fitness and Anaerobic Threshold
If you are working above your body's maximum ability to burn oxygen
you reach a point where your body switches from oxygen to glycogen
energy stores in your muscles as a fuel source. This point is called
the Anaerobic Threshold (AT).
Unfortunately, we're not very well designed for burning fuel other
than oxygen, so when we use this new fuel we use it 32 times faster
than oxygen. Burning glycogen creates lactic acid which makes our
muscles ache. Our bodies get rid of this lactic acid in our lungs
as carbon dioxide, so when we reach our AT we start puffing, panting
and blowing.
If you have a high AT you can run faster for longer without going
anaerobic. People who know how the body works tend to start off
very slowly in endurance races to make sure they don't hit their
AT. Great marathon runners work just below their AT and 'know' how
much fuel they have in reserve by the way their muscles feel.
Once again, training can affect your AT but, like VO2 MAX, it is
also strongly genetically influenced.
Scoring
Our contestants were scored on their VO2 MAX test, their Anaerobic
Threshold and their psychological drive. The contestant with the
lowest score is the overall winner.
Our Superhuman was the fittest contestant both genetically and
through training. They had the highest VO2 max and were able to
do the most aerobic muscle work. They had the highest AT and were
able to go faster for longer.
Click here to see the
final results >
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