Running versus cardiorespiratory endurance: not the same issue?

Obesity is considered as one of the main chronic, non-communicable diseases, which has become a global epidemic according to the World Health Organization. The present study was a detailed analysis of the endurance and physical fitness of boys at the age of 10-11-12 years depending on their body weight.

The study group included the total of 71 boys aged 10-12 years, who were divided according to the BMI value. All the boys were subject to the cardiorespiratory endurance assessment using the test by Ruffier and the Cooper's endurance run.

The Cooper and Ruffier Test results in the study group according to BMI showed that endurance and physical fitness in obese boys was the poorest. Physical fitness was equally poor in the other subjects, although the level of endurance assessed with the Cooper Test was good.

Regardless of age, the results of physical fitness were much worse than those of endurance in all boys. Even most boys with normal body weight showed average results in the endurance test, and bad ones in the physical fitness test. Obese subjects showed worse results in case of both parameters.