smontanaro
09-25-2018, 06:34 AM
I've generally paid reasonably close attention to my weight (and waistline) and resting heart rate. They are two simple measures of overall condition anyone should be able to measure.
I was thinking about how I might apply a known workload to add a "stress test" to my quantified self. This isn't something I would do to replace and honest-to-goodness stress test. I'm just thinking of keeping tabs on things, maybe a monthly measure.
If I remember from my physiology days, at a given workload, your heart rate stabilizes after about two minutes. Of interest when applying a workload would be:
the workload (can you apply it consistently enough)
the change in your heart rate when the workload is applied
the time it takes your heart rate to return within some delta of the starting value
It just so happens that I have a consistent workload I can apply at work. I work on the 33rd floor, and the good espresso machine is on 28. I generally take the elevator down (creaky knees) and walk back up. I haven't measured the time it takes to make the trek up, but I'm not running (I have a cup full of the nectar of the gods in-hand, after all), so it might be close to two minutes. If the time is too short, I can add a couple more flights to get my heart rate to stabilize. Once I've ascended however far I need to go, I can measure my heart rate, then the time it takes for my heart rate to return to near baseline.
Variables would seem to be my weight (it doesn't change that much, but can vary two or three pounds from one day to the next), the speed of ascent (I think I can control that pretty well), and the distance (again, controllable).
Does this seem like a reasonable extra measure to add to the self-assessment toolkit? Again, I stress (pun intended) that I don't plan on using this as a replacement for a stress test by a cardiologist.
I was thinking about how I might apply a known workload to add a "stress test" to my quantified self. This isn't something I would do to replace and honest-to-goodness stress test. I'm just thinking of keeping tabs on things, maybe a monthly measure.
If I remember from my physiology days, at a given workload, your heart rate stabilizes after about two minutes. Of interest when applying a workload would be:
the workload (can you apply it consistently enough)
the change in your heart rate when the workload is applied
the time it takes your heart rate to return within some delta of the starting value
It just so happens that I have a consistent workload I can apply at work. I work on the 33rd floor, and the good espresso machine is on 28. I generally take the elevator down (creaky knees) and walk back up. I haven't measured the time it takes to make the trek up, but I'm not running (I have a cup full of the nectar of the gods in-hand, after all), so it might be close to two minutes. If the time is too short, I can add a couple more flights to get my heart rate to stabilize. Once I've ascended however far I need to go, I can measure my heart rate, then the time it takes for my heart rate to return to near baseline.
Variables would seem to be my weight (it doesn't change that much, but can vary two or three pounds from one day to the next), the speed of ascent (I think I can control that pretty well), and the distance (again, controllable).
Does this seem like a reasonable extra measure to add to the self-assessment toolkit? Again, I stress (pun intended) that I don't plan on using this as a replacement for a stress test by a cardiologist.