The importance of the stress test if you do sports

Each person undergoes specific adaptations since it is not the same to climb the stairs for a person who has heart problems than for someone who is healthy. In order to know the response of an individual's body to an effort, there is what is known as "Stress test" or in the more professional lexicon, an “ergometry”.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

• It is a test aimed at learning about the athlete's adaptation to effort, especially at the cardiovascular level.
• The adaptations are very personal and depend 100% on the physical form of the person who is "sweating".
• By doing follow-ups, it is possible to assess how adaptation to the effort is improving and thus achieve better results.

What is the stress test for?

Regardless of whether the athlete is an amateur or professional, the completion of this test is aimed at knowing their adaptation to effort, especially at the cardiovascular level. In other words, how the heartbeat, blood pressure and the tracing on the electrocardiogram respond to the demands of the effort to which the body is subjected.

How it is performed

There are different types of ergometers: bicycle, treadmill or, in some specific cases, for example in case of disability, another option is a rowing machine. What it is about is to reproduce physical effort starting at low levels of demand and gradually increasing it. The control of the parameters is done with the athlete monitored at all times. Electrodes, which are little more than small receptors that transmit what is happening in the heart, are placed on the chest so that the doctor can monitor its adaptations. At the same time, the tension is taken without forgetting, obviously, something that is very important, the feelings that those who are undergoing said test have. In some cases, these controls are accompanied by an assessment of lactate or oxygen consumption, which provide even more concrete and specific information on how the body adapts.

Focusing on the most common ergometers, which are the bicycle or the treadmill, at the beginning of the test the person is asked to start picking up pace, either by walking or pedaling. As the minutes pass, the resistance of the bicycle intensifies as if it were going to climb a hill, or in the case of the treadmill, the speed is increased and in some cases also the slope.

Assessment of the athlete's heart response

The response of the heart is clear; this is accelerating and its rate is increasing as well as blood pressure. Anyway, the adaptations are very personal and depend 100% on the physical form in which the person is "sweating". The person who is in good shape will make upward changes in his parameters in a very progressive way; On the other hand, those who are not used to exertion or have been exercising for a short time will have their pulse accelerated much more quickly. This is indicative that you need training in order to continue making positive progress. The tests can be more or less taken to the limit, that is when we talk about submaximal or maximum tests. When you do not exceed 80-85% of the recommended maximum heart rate (HRMR) you will be performing a submaximal while when you pass and reach 100% we are working “at full capacity”.

The data obtained from these tests are the heart rate at which the individual notices that he can no longer, that is, when he reaches fatigue, the changes in the tracing of the electrocardiogram (ECG) in a dynamic way and the increases in the blood pressure. These last two pieces of information are of great importance. The ECG tracing cannot be assessed without this type of test and some of the changes do not give symptoms of any kind. Regarding blood pressure, some are surprised when they are told that they have had a "hypertensive reaction to exertion", which is nothing more than an excessive increase in this parameter during exercise.

Leaving aside the medical data, at the sporting level the information is very relevant, since by doing follow-ups it is possible to assess how adaptation to the effort is being improved and thus achieve better results.