Feeling rather good we continued to talk a bit more as the speed of the treadmill started to force beads of sweat to bubble. Still, the effort was quite easy and I had no trouble whatsoever.
He kicked it up again. This time the treadmill was at a steep angle and I had to run. Dr. Weinrauch said "This is the last few minutes. He asked me "On a scale of 1-10 how hard do you feel you’re working? I said "1." But I was comparing this to my workout. I quickly changed my answer "Well, 3."
He then said "Well, your heart rate is now at 168 and we’d like to get it to 178."
It never happened.
"Alright" he said "I’m going to shut this down. We’re not going to get you tired out or your HR up to maximum so I’m going to slow it down."
As the treadmill whined down I asked "How did I do?" He said "Your heart if fine as far as the test can tell. No electrical abnormalities." I rephrased "How did my performance compare to others?"
"Exceptional he said. You did better than my runners."
"Runners of my age group?" I asked. "No, across the board." he said.
There was a pause. He then looked at me and said "Where is your gym?"
It has always been my contention that aerobic exercise has it’s place in the life of those who enjoy it. People who love a run in the morning, or a swim in the evening, etc., should relish in their beloved activities. And they should, of course, understand the risks.
More importantly people should understand the positive cardiovascular benefits of resistance training. I’m no spring chicken and I’ve never been a runner. It is clear that my strength training was the factor in my exceptional performance on my stress test.
So though it ain’t ‘science,’ it is a nice piece of anecdotal evidence. I get hundreds of emails everyday from people telling me the same.
Make strength training a part of your life. Start today!
