A cardiopulmonary assessment is a non-invasive test that evaluates the physiological response to the maximum physical effort of an athlete. It offers data on your physical, metabolic, cardiovascular, and ventilatory status; this means that we not only know the behavior of the heart and blood pressure but also that the test provides important information to determine the appropriate training zones and thresholds for different types of sports.
An important benefit of this study is to ensure that the heart is working properly and that the risk factors are minimal. In addition, it helps to differentiate the normal changes that high-performance athletes go through (heart rate, heart size).
This helps prevent what we call sudden death in the athlete. Although the incidence is low (1 per 200,000 inhabitants per year), it is a phenomenon that can occur to any athlete and mostly occurs in apparently healthy young athletes.
It is recommended to anyone who wants to start a sport or physical activity and not only for high-performance athletes, especially if they suffer from a chronic disease such as asthma, diabetes, or hypertension, at least once per year. The parameters will help prescribe the load and intensity of training, assess performance, and prevent or diagnose cardiac complications.
The cardiopulmonary assessment consists of several stages, from the medical consultation, anthropometry, calorimetry, electrocardiogram, and a stress test. It should always be done in the presence of a specialist doctor. Schedule Yours Here. Find out more about this evaluation here.
Learn more about this evaluation here.
Olympia, Sports Medicine.