A stress test is a technique used primarily to measure the physical performance of a person when subjected to a certain effort. In addition, this test is also useful to know any alteration or anomaly of cardiovascular type that is not manifested at rest, but during the practice of a certain physical activity.
In order to perform a stress test in conditions it is necessary to know the measurement of your pulse, your blood pressure and your heart's electrical activity through a series of accessories that are placed on your body while you walk or run on a treadmill for this purpose.
If you feel the curiosity to perform a stress test and you have never done one, either because of ignorance or because of the economic cost involved, in Buscopulsometro we give you the opportunity to learn how to perform a simple stress test in your own home and with little economic investment.
First of all, it is necessary to point out that before performing any home stress test, you should inform your doctor, since in the event of suffering from any type of heart disease or abnormality, it could be contraindicated to perform a test of this type.
In any case, from Buscopulsometro always recommend going to a specialized center to carry out a stress test with greater reliability, to check the response of the heart during exercise and maximum heart rate, but also to diagnose any if you might have some kind of heart disease.
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Conconi test
The stress test can be performed on a stationary bike or treadmill and consists of performing a progressive effort until you reach your limit. In this article we are going to perform it on a treadmill. To carry it out you need a heart rate monitor and another person to indicate vaya changes in speed, while recording the parameters related to your heart rate.
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Get on the treadmill and warm up for about 12 minutes, then set a speed of 8 km/hour with a 1% incline. The other person will wear the heart rate monitor and every minute will increase the speed of the treadmill by half a kilometer per hour, recording the number of heartbeats at each change. The test ends just at the moment when fatigue prevents you from continuing to run on the treadmill.
Conclusion
The stress test allows you to know if the person or athlete is suitable for performing a certain physical activity. Thanks to the results obtained, training sessions can be more individualized and efficient, in addition to knowing where your anaerobic and aerobic thresholds are.
This 'handmade' Conconi test, which you can perform by yourself with the help of another person, is in no way intended to be a substitute for a properly performed stress test under the supervision of an expert.
Photographs: Wikipedia and Flickr / Elisa Campbell (CC license, commercial use and modification permitted).
