Do the Step-up Test!

Now that you know how to take your heart rate you can begin your pretraining test. This will serve as a reference in measuring your progress later.

The items required are:

• Wrist watch(to time and take your pulse)
•    Heart rate monitor(if available)

• A  sturdy chair or bench(15-18 inches high, and must be able to hold your weight

• A clean piece of paper to record your results on. (You might want the type of paper that you want to keep for a long time)

The Step Up Test

Purpose: to determine and record the following:

• Resting heart rate

• Approximate rate of recovery

Step 1: Take your heart rate at rest. Record result labeled as resting heart rate(RHR).

                To be certain that your resting heart rate is consistent throughout the test, see to it that conditions are similar every time the test is taken.

Step 2: Perform the step-up routine

                Do 30 repetitions/minute for 2 minutes.

Step 3: Immediately after the routine take your heart rate. Record result labeled as “HR immediately after exercise.”

Step 4: Rest for 2 minutes then take your heart rate. Record result labeled as “HR 2min.s after exercise.”

Step 5: Rest for 1 minute then take your heart rate again. Record result labeled as “HR 3min.s after exercise.”

Step 6: Rest for another minute then take your heart rate again. Record result labeled as “HR 4min.s after exercise.”

Aim

The present result by itself means very little. Take the test every 2 weeks and aim for the following:

• Lower RHR

The lower your resting heart rate, the more efficient is your heart in pumping blood.

•  Faster Rate of Recovery

The less time for your heart rate to return to normal, the better. Faster rate of recovery translates to better cardio-respiratory efficiency.

How To Do It

                Both goals can be achieved by regular cardio exercises like jogging, walking, running, cycling, etc. Among these exercises, swimming is the most effective but very few people swim well enough to maintain a pace that will significantly contribute to cardio-respiratory improvement. A 150 pound person must swim 50 yards/minute in freestyle to burn 10 calories per minute. Choose a cardio exercise that you are good at or that you are interested in or choose one that you can do regularly for the rest of your life. If you can’t choose any, start by walking vigorously 30 mins every day then gradually improve by alternating walking and running.

Start Running!