Physical fitness of New Zealand army personnel; correlation between field tests and direct laboratory assessments--anaerobic threshold and maximum O2 uptake.

Performance in two field tests was compared with maximum oxygen uptake (V02max) and anaerobic threshold in 42 male army staff. V02max was measured directly during incremental treadmill exercise. Anaerobic threshold was determined simultaneously from changes in ventilation and gas-exchange. The time to run 2.4 km and the distance covered in 12 minutes were each measured within a week of the laboratory assessments. V02max ranged from 39.8 to 66.0 ml kg-1min-1 with a mean of 50.8 ml kg-1 min-1 (SD 6.2) for the group. Mean anaerobic threshold was 30.7 ml kg-1min-1 (SD 5.5). These values compare favourably with those for other military populations. The time to run 2.4 km averaged 616 s (SD 60) for the group while the mean distance covered in 12 minutes was 2.78 km (SD 0.25). The time for the 2.4 km run showed a significant inverse correlation with both V02max (r = 0.83) and anaerobic threshold (r = 0.81). The linear correlations between 12 min run distance and V02max (r = 0.72) or anaerobic threshold (r = 0.70) were lower. V02max and anaerobic threshold may be justifiably estimated using such field tests.