AI Tutor
Have you ever played tag at recess and felt your chest thumping like a drum?
That thump comes from your heart pumping oxygen from your lungs to your working muscles. How well your body keeps this up without getting tired is called cardiovascular endurance.
To measure how fit your heart and lungs are, doctors and coaches use a simple number called your pulse. But where do you find it?

Finding Your Pulse

Your pulse is the tiny beat you feel each time your heart pushes a wave of blood through your blood vessels.
Place two fingers gently on the inside of your wrist just below your thumb. Press lightly until you feel a steady rhythmic tap.
Now that you know how to count your heartbeats, how can we test your fitness in just three minutes?

The 3-Minute Step Test

In the 3-minute step test, you step up onto a sturdy bench or bottom stair and step back down to a steady four-beat rhythm.
The pattern is simple: up with foot one, up with foot two, down with foot one, down with foot two. You repeat this for exactly three minutes.