Table 2.

Values established for delineating the six-relative intensity levels of physical activity.

Relative-intensity levels of physical activity#	Reference values established for each intensity level by Hernando et al.25		Values used for energy consumption estimation
	$\dot{\mathbf{V}}{\mathbf{O}}_{\mathbf{2}}$ (ml·kg−1·min−1)	METs*	$\mathbf{\%}\dot{\mathbf{V}}{\mathbf{O}}_{\mathbf{2max}}$	$\dot{\mathbf{V}}{\mathbf{O}}_{\mathbf{2}}$ (ml·kg−1·min−1)	METs*
Sedentary X < 10%	$\dot{V}{\mathrm{O}}_2<5.45$	METs < 1.56	8.26%	4.5	1.29
Ligth 10% ≤ X < 25%	$5.45\le \dot{V}{\mathrm{O}}_2<13.63$	1.56 ≤ METs < 3.90	17.5%	9.54	2.73
Moderate 25% ≤ X < 45%	$13.63\le \dot{V}{\mathrm{O}}_2<24.54$	3.9 ≤ METs < 7.01	35.0%	19.10	5.45
Vigorous 45% ≤ X < 65%	$24.54\le \dot{V}{\mathrm{O}}_2<35.44$	7.01 ≤ METs < 10.13	55.0%	29.99	8.57
Very Vigorous 65% ≤ X < 85%	$35.44\le \dot{V}{\mathrm{O}}_2<46.35$	10.13 ≤ METs < 13.24	75.0%	40.90	11.69
Extremely Vigorous X ≥ 85%	$\dot{V}{\mathrm{O}}_2\ge 46.35$	METs ≥ 13.24	92.5%	50.44	14.41

Abbreviations: N, number of individuals; $\dot{V}{\mathrm{O}}_{2\max }$, maximum oxygen consumption; $\dot{V}{\mathrm{O}}_2$_, oxygen consumption; MET, metabolic equivalent task.

Each minute of the cardiopulmonary test was classified into one of the six intensity categories of physical activity relative to an individual’s level of cardiorespiratory $(\dot{V}{\mathrm{O}}_{2\max })$.

*1 MET = 3.5 ml·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹. 1 MET = 1 kcal·h⁻¹.

^#X denotes the percentage of a person’s aerobic capacity $\left(\dot{V}{\mathrm{O}}_{2\max }\right)$ used to classify each one of the six relative-intensity categories.