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Let your tester judge what’s important. Liz tested two men who failed to tell

her that they’d each had a lung removed. Another client neglected to men-

tion that he had serious congenital heart problems. Two weeks later, he

passed out while running on the treadmill and hit his head on the way down,

causing a life-threatening head injury. Lucky for him, an ambulance arrived

within five minutes, and the paramedics were able to save him.

What’s Your Heart Rate? ..............................................................................

Your heart rate,also known as your pulse,is the number of times your heart

beats per minute. Your fitness evaluation should include a measure of your

resting heart rate — your heart rate when you’re sitting still. Ideally, your rest-

ing heart rate should be between 60 and 90 beats per minute. It may be slower

if you’re fit or genetically predisposed to a low heart rate; it may be faster if

you’re nervous or have recently downed three double cappuccinos. In addi-

tion to caffeine, stress and certain medications can speed up your heart rate.

To be sure, take your heart rate first thing in the morning for three consecu-

tive days and find the average to determine your heart rate.

After a month or two of regular exercise, your resting heart rate usually

drops. This means that your heart has become more efficient. It may need to

beat only 80 times per minute to pump the same amount of blood (or more)

than it used to pump in 90 beats. In the long run, this saves wear and tear on

your heart.

The simplest place to take your own pulse is at your wrist. Rest your middle

and index fingertips (not your thumb) lightly on your opposite wrist, directly

below the base of your thumb. Most people can see the faint bluish line of

their radial artery; place your fingertips here. Count the beats for 1 minute.

Or, if you have a short attention span, count for 30 seconds and multiply by 2.

For a really, really short attention span, count for 6 seconds and multiply by

10. An even easier and faster way to measure your pulse is to strap on a
    heart-rate monitor, an extremely useful gadget we describe in Chapter 8.

What’s Your Blood Pressure? ......................................................................

Have a professional test your blood pressure. Home blood-pressure machines

tend to be inaccurate, as do those contraptions in the mall that charge a

quarter for a reading.

Blood pressureis a measurement of how open your blood vessels are. Low

numbers mean that your heart doesn’t have to work very hard to pump the

blood through your blood vessels. Ideally, your blood pressure should read

115/75 or below, a lower standard than the old standby of 120/80. If it’s

Chapter 2: Testing Your Fitness 17