In
the normal course of living middle-aged manhood to the fit-fullest, it’s not
uncommon for some of us to fall off the peak-fitness wagon from time to time and
that was my case sometime last year.
When
did it start? I’m not sure but looking
back, the absence of training journal detail provides a first clue. I always struggle with quality workout time
during my peak work season that generally takes place from February to April. Given that this period is soon upon me, I
resolve to be more vigilant now that I’m back on the training pony full force since
August 31, 2018.
I’ll
have more to share about my current fitness, health and wellness journey later
but today I’m going to share the results of a quick cardiovascular conditioning
test I took this morning. It’s called
the YMCA
Bench Step Test for Cardiovascular Fitness.
This
test is based on how quickly your heart rate recovers following a short bout of
exercise. It’s a 3-minute test using a
12-inch step, bench or box that you step up to and down from at a cadence of 96
beats per minute. I found a YouTube
video of a Metronome playing for 3 minutes for my test here:
Another place to go is here: METRONOME ONLINE
I used a recently purchased high-quality 12-inch step that I have in my office that I use for office-based workouts. I’ll share some of the workouts I’ve done using the step on a different day.
 |
| I paid $99 for this high-quality step and it's worth every penny paid. |
Following
the test procedures, did the requisite step-ups for 3 minutes, stopped
immediately and sat down on my step. I then took a pulse reading one minute
later.
My results
Starting
heart rate
|
71
beats per minute
|
Average
heart rate during test
|
116
beats per minute
|
Maximum
heart rate during test
|
131
beats per minute
|
Heart
rate one minute after test
|
72
beats per minute
|
Calories
burned during test
|
25
calories
|
My
estimated maximum heart rate
|
180
beats per minute
|
Using
the age-adjusted standards based on guidelines published by the YMCA, I rated
as excellent. Naturally, I’d like to
improve my score and am sure I will with my current training efforts. Here are the guidelines for your study:
For better viewing or to download these guidelines, go here:
This
is only one of many ways to assess cardiovascular conditioning which, for me, I
rate as very important in my fitness, health and wellness journey. A tougher one that I learned about is the U.S. Customs
and Border Protection Officer Physical Fitness Test 1 consisting of
120 step-ups in 5 minutes using the same 12-inch step. I’ll plan on taking that test on a different
day and share my results here.
A
couple nights ago, I got some more favorable feedback when taking my blood
pressure using a home-based device.
Take
this YMCA test for a drive one of these days to assess your own middle-aged man
cardiovascular conditioning. At this chapter
in our fitness, health and wellness journey, we need to be vigilant and step-up
our cardiovascular conditioning.
Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum
2 comments:
Congratulations on Your results! Looking forward To the post about Your training and how You are combining everything. I have a question about the step up test. When You say this, "step up to and down from at a cadence of 96 beats per minute." I never used a metronome so I'm a little confused by this. Can You explain this?
Michael, sorry for my belated reply. I got to get back in the blog mode 100% which includes comment moderation. The 96-count equals 24 step-ups and step-downs in a minute.
For example, one complete step-up consists of (imagine beginning with your right foot) step up with right foot then left food (now both feet are on top of the step) then step down with right foot and then left foot so that both feet are back at the starting position. That's one step. Again, 24 step-ups in a minute to a 96-count cadence because there are 4 movements for each step-up rep.
Hope this explanation helps. Thanks for visiting Pierini Fitness; enjoy your day.
Post a Comment