The Stairs Test You Need to Pass for Your Heart!
A heart condition such as heart disease affects 1 out of 2 people.
If you want to avoid it from happening to you, watch the above video in which you can check your likelihood.
How fast can you climb 4 flights of stairs?
Well, this test may help to reveal and in assessing heart health.
A simple and free physical activity test of your heart health is as close as your nearest set of stairs.
Researchers from Spain say that being able to climb four flights of stairs in under a minute is an accurate indicator of good cardiac health.
The study presented at a recent scientific meeting of the European Society of Cardiology compared the results of the stair-climbing test to those obtained from exercise testing conducted in a lab.
The 165 study participants each walked or ran on a treadmill until exercising stressed exhaustion with their exercise capacity measured as metabolic equivalents (METs).
After a rest period, the study group climbed four flights of stairs (60 steps) at a fast but non-running pace, then had their METs measured again.
Participants who climbed the stairs in less than 40 to 45 seconds achieved more than 9 to 10 METs.
Past studies have shown that achieving 10 METs during an exercise test is linked with a low death rate (1 percent or less per year).
Participants who took 1.5 minutes or longer to climb the stairs achieved less than 8 METs, which translates to an anticipated death rate of 2 to 4 percent per year, or 30 percent in 10 years.
Imaging of heart function during the tests revealed that 58 percent of the participants who took more than 1.5 minutes to climb the stairs had abnormal heart function during exercise.
“The stairs test is an easy way to check your heart health,” said Dr. Jesús Peteiro, a cardiologist at University Hospital a Coruña and a study author.
“If it takes you more than one and a half minutes to ascend four flights of stairs, your health is sub-optimal and it would be a good idea to consult a doctor.”
The big advantage of this method is its ease.
It can be done almost anywhere with very little requirement in terms of equipment or personnel.
It is also much cheaper and faster to do than the traditional stress tests and can be repeated multiple times to track any progress.
However, the flip side of this is that the test is not standardized… the type of stairs, speed of climbing the stairs, timing of effort can differ.
This method also significantly limits the evaluation of patients with limited mobility and elderly patients, who may have more mechanical difficulty with climbing stairs.
What does all of this mean?
It means a lot.
This is a good test that anyone can try on their own to see if there is even a potential for a problem.
And if there is a problem with your heart, blood pressure, or shortness of breath, go see your doctor.
Now, in order to prevent this problem from happening in the future as you age is important as well.
How do you do it?
It’s a long answer but in summary, it’s the following:
- The Right Exercise - at least 3/x week working on strength
- The Right Diet - With low GI to keep insulin down
- The Right Consistency and Accountability - keeping body fat percentage low, minimally below 30% but ideally 20% or less
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