News and Tips

If you’re a patient or gym member at New Heart, you’ve likely taken a walk test. It’s a monitored test on a treadmill that gives our exercise specialists an idea of where you are starting. If you are considering becoming a patient at New Heart, this is something you might experience early on here, if appropriate. We have a variety of ways we can get a sense of your fitness level, but the walk-test is our most commonly used tool in measuring what your normal is. So let’s break down what the walk test is measuring, and what you can understand about your own body from it.

What does the walk test measure?

The walk test will measure your heart rate, your blood pressure, and the electrical activity of your heart via an EKG. These measurements could also help our exercise specialists pick up heart rhythm issues or ongoing coronary artery issues.

Dr. Orchard, one of our cardiologists, explained that “it’s basically to see what functional or exercise capacity patients have when they start the program.  We want to know where they are so we can design a program that fits their needs. We want to make sure it’s safe for them to exercise here.”

What can I expect?

The walk test varies for every patient, some tests last about a minute, some last over 10, it just depends on your fitness level. This is a sub-maximal test, meaning we don’t push you to your limit — your safety is our main concern. One of our exercise specialists will help you place ten electrodes on your chest. These will measure the electrical activity of your heart.

Many of our patients are on medications that keep their heart rates low, so instead of using heart rate to measure exercise difficulty, we use a scale called the “rating of perceived exertion,” or RPE. The scale, which ranges from 0-10, helps our exercise specialists understand how hard the exercise is, from very very easy to can’t continue. 

You will start walking on the treadmill, and our exercise specialists will slowly increase the speed, giving you a warning each time they do. If you can’t safely walk on a treadmill, you can also use the NuStep, which is a seated machine.

Once you’ve completed the test, your exercise specialist will go over your results with you. You will then speak with either Dr. Orchard or Dr. Ramo about your medical history, your fitness levels, and what you can expect from your program.