What is the Harvard Step test?

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Harvard Step test is used to measure and evaluate the person's heart health and to evaluate changes in health over time with repeated testing. During World War II it was designed at Harvard University to evaluate heart health and help in developing heart health regimes for athletes and military staff. The test consists of a person who gets up and down from a bench or a sports step and then measures heart rate. One of the main strengths of the Harvard step test is that it can be repeatedly carried out to evaluate and measure cardiovascular health over time.

With the Harvard Step test, one can quickly and easily evaluate your own cardiovascular health and have a sense of your own general heart health. The test has been designed to make it easier or with the help of one other person, and the whole test takes less than ten minutes to perform and evaluate. All that is needed is an athletic step or a bench of about20 inches (50.8 cm) in height andThe stopwatch, even if the metronome can make this process easier.

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Harvard Step test begins by entering and back down from step or bench every two seconds. Therefore, the metronome can facilitate testing because it can provide a person the right rhythm to ensure 30 steps per minute. Someone else can also help keep a person in rhythm and watching time. The person gets up and down on a step or bench for five minutes or until he is exhausted and can continue. As soon as he passes, the person immediately sits down and rests.

After one minute, the person's heart rate is measured for 30 seconds, then after two minutes after the heart rate is completed, the heart rate measures for another 30 seconds and after three minutes the heart rate is measured again for 30 seconds. The number of heart rhythms was counted every 30 seconds Onda then adds up and doubles. Then with the amount of time spent by steppingM, either 300 seconds, or the number of seconds that have passed before exhaustion will multiply 100. This total part is then divided by the previous number found by double by multiplying three heart frequencies when it adds together.

The resulting number is compared with a graph that shows the ideal numbers for a healthy individual finishing the Harvard Step test. Based on this graph, everything over 90 suggests excellent cardiovascular health, 80 to 90 is above average, 65 to 79 is average, 55 to 64 is below diameter and less than 55 is considered bad. The Harvard Step test can then be repeated for several weeks or months to evaluate the effects of diet or exercise routine on heart health.