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Cardiovascular Fitness

Heart Rate Recovery Test

One of the most popular methods of measuring cardiovascular fitness is by measuring how quickly your heart recovers after performing hard physical exercise.

The fitter your cardiovascular system is, the quicker your heart recovers from the exertion. The most common test is the 1-minute Heart Rate Recovery test (HRR). FitQuest performs this test immediately after the step test as your heart rate should be at its maximum if you have tried your hardest on this test.

Heart Rate Recovery is calculated by measuring your heart rate immediately after the step test and then again 60 seconds later. The difference between the two readings is your HRR result.

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Getting the best HRR test results

FitQuest measures your heart rate through the multifunctional handles. This is more convenient than using a heart rate monitor, especially if you don’t own one. However, measuring your ECG through your hands is more difficult than using electrodes close to your heart. The biggest problem is the electrical signals (EMG) generated by the muscles in your arms. This so called noise can interfere with the small ECG signals that we want to measure.

Therefore, to obtain the best results, try not to tense the muscles in your upper body, whilst ensuring full hand contact with the integrated electrodes in the handles.

The single most important factor to obtaining a good result is to ensure that you grab the handles as soon as you finish the step test so that your heart has not had any time to recover.

How do I improve my HRR results?

To improve your cardiovascular system, you need to do fairly intense aerobic activities such as long distance running, hard swimming or cycling. There are many activities that require cardiovascular fitness ranging from dancing to marathon runs.

Ask your PT

Ask your personal trainer for advice and guidance which exercises are most suitable for you and, as always, don’t be afraid to tell them what exercises you don’t like doing. They will definitely want you to enjoy your experience.

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