Getting a cardiovascular test can be a costly affair as well as time-consuming. That’s where YMCA is a good alternative to getting yourself tested.
Traditional cardiovascular tests require a lot of equipment and a complex setup; therefore, the YMCA is one of the best ways to check your health without needing an expert. This DIY assessment can be done at home, which makes it completely user-friendly.
The test is specifically designed to observe your heart rate recovery while performing a short exercise. Hence, you can make quick and precise observations without any technical knowledge.
In addition, you can ask a partner to assist in the test if you want more precise observations. As such, the chances of making wrong observations are reduced drastically. Keeping this in mind, we have compiled this guide to help you understand the importance of the YMCA test.
Table of Contents
Pre-Test Conditions
Before taking this test, you must make a few necessary preparations so that the observations are correct and precise. For starters, you must ensure that there is no medical condition that can hamper the test. In case your clients are suffering from a medical condition, we recommend getting them treated before taking this step test.
In addition, the person taking the test must be fit since they will need to perform some exercise. As such, the patient can’t eat or smoke before 2 hours of the test. Drinking coffee is also restricted since it can affect the heart rate.
In case the client is undergoing treatment or is suffering from a cold, we suggest postponing the test till they recover fully. Some medications can act as beta-blockers, affecting the heart rate reading.
Similarly, you will require a well-ventilated room so the client doesn’t feel uneasy or suffocated. Ideally, the room should have a temperature of 18℃ to 20℃.
Furthermore, we suggest that the person takes a PARQ physical readiness questionnaire since it is designed to understand the person’s psychological and mental capacity. If the person can clear the questionnaire properly, you can perform the test on them.
Essentials For Performing The Test
Now that we have covered all the important preparations required for the test, we want to share a few essentials you must keep ready. Most of these essential resources can be found at home or in a local store; hence, you don’t have to spend too much money.
Here is a list of essentials you must have for the test:
- 12-inch bench, box, or step ( it doesn’t matter if the object is close to 12 inches)
- A stopwatch or a clock to record time
- Metronome (you can download the app on your phone)
- Heart rate monitor (optional)
- Assisting partner (optional)
Procedure
You can begin the test by first setting the metronome on your phone. All you need to do is set the metronome to 96 beats per minute and turn up the volume so you can hear it. The main purpose of the metronome is to provide rhythm for the exercise, which allows the client to follow a certain pattern.
Moving on, you must ask the client to stand up and face the 12-inch bench you have placed in front of him/her. This bench will play an important role as a medium for exercise.
As soon as you turn on the clock, the client must step on and off the bench while maintaining the pace of the metronome. Moreover, if you have a partner to assist you, instruct him to give instructions to your client.
The client can follow these instructions and perform the exercise for three minutes till the test is concluded. Now you can proceed to check his/her heart rate by feeling the pulse on the wrist. In addition, you need to observe the number of beats the client has made in the last 60 seconds.
Besides this, you can use a heart rate monitor to check your client’s heart rate since it offers a more precise and accurate reading. However, the client must ensure that he/she hasn’t eaten or drank coffee/tea before the test since it can affect the heart rate reading.
Similarly, smoking and having prior medical conditions can give inaccurate heart rate readings; therefore, the client must be careful while taking this test. Once you have noted down the reading, you can check the score on the rating scale issued by the YMCA website.
Furthermore, all the scores on the rating scale are arranged based on age groups, so you can easily see how healthy your client is by checking their heart rate score.
How To Improve Your Cardiovascular Health
In case your client has performed badly during the test, you can encourage them to do better by giving them different cardio exercise routines. These exercises are designed to improve the intensity and duration of the cardiovascular system while boosting your overall endurance.
For instance, step-ups are one of the most effective home exercises since it doesn’t require any intense training or equipment. Apart from this, you can give your client a strict diet to follow.
Final Words
As discussed earlier, the YMCA test is one of the most effective DIY tests since it doesn’t require sophisticated types of equipment or medical knowledge. Moreover, you can get instant results within three minutes. Nevertheless, you must consider a few precautions while taking this test.
For instance, you must ensure that the stopwatch is running on a fresh set of batteries since defective batteries cause the stopwatch to give inefficient readings. In case you use a heart rate monitor, we recommend doing some research before using it since the readings play a very important role in checking your heart vitals.
Lastly, you must keep a YMCA score scale chart since it will help interpret your collected information.
That said, it’s a wrap. See you next time!