Stress Test Experience

BenKnowsFitness

I had a stress test today. I figured the story would be of interest to some MFP'ers.

The test is meant to raise your heart rate under controlled/monitored conditions by running a hill profile on a treadmill while gradually increasing the speed.

I asked the tech how high the test would take my heart rate. She said 178 BPM. I had a look of shock and she a look of amusement. I told her we were going to be there a while. She advised that the machine would get it up there quickly and that she’d never seen it take longer than 16.5 minutes. This lecture came with the “yeah right” tone throughout it. She then changed the story a bit saying I needed to get to 151 but that I had to stop at 178. Whew, I said, I know I can get to 151. Again this conversation was littered with “uhh, ok, yeah, uhh, right, ok, we will see”.

So I get going on the machine. About 10 minutes in I just start pushing into the 120BPM. I’ve been having a conversation with her this whole time. She walks away for a moment to grab another tech. This second tech pops in the room for a few then confirms that the readings are ok and that there is no need for me to stop yet (I don’t know what all of this was about). Now I am starting to notice that the machine is at about an 8% grade with a speed of 6mph. I just keep powering through. I continue the conversation with the tech about her kids in college and my kids and what have you. So I finally start to see 170BPM around 15 minutes in. I push to 16 min and I am not seeing an increase, so headed towards 17 min and I am at 171BPM. I told the tech to turn the machine off because I did not see any point in continuing. So off it went.


Now the tech seemed to better understand my behavior I exhibited before starting the test. And the other techs were all gathered round looking at the results. One shouted…”the record is 21 min” I replied, “I was not going for the record” The doctor also mentioned he had not seen someone go 17 min for over a year.
Now that I reflected on this I recall seeing patients going in the stress test room then coming out about 10 minutes later. So they probably finished the test in about 5 min. This actually helps me understand the way the technician initially responded to me.

Good news is I am fine. Bad news is I got all sweaty with nowhere to shower.

neznarf0205

Thanks for posting this. I am scheduling my stress test coming up and I was wondering what they were going to be looking for. I had a spike in my BP about 3 weeks ago and I have been exercising but finding it more and more difficult to exercise. So doc thinks something might be up with my heart. My EKG today was normal, I believe the problem is I took October through December off from my moderate to extreme exercising and now I can remember running when I had 11% more muscle mass and I weighed 20 lbs less.