Talk test can help monitor exercise exertion

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Talk test can help monitor exercise exertion 10-Sep-2004

News-Medical.Net

People who are able to comfortably converse during exercise are likely

working out at an acceptable intensity. This guideline, known as the

“Talk Test,” has been shown to correctly gauge intensity and correspond

to an effective range for exercise prescription.

New research, published in the September issue of Medicine & Science in

Sports & Exercise, the official scientific journal of the American

College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), provides further evidence that the

Talk Test is a simple method to determine appropriate levels of exercise

intensity and set markers to avoid overexertion.

Researchers studied the consistency of the Talk Test to determine if

responses were similar among different modes of exercise. Sixteen

healthy and moderately active participants performed two progressively

harder tests, one on a treadmill and one on a cycle ergometer. All

recited a standard paragraph, the Pledge of Allegiance, aloud during

each stage of each exercise test. After completing the paragraph,

participants were asked if they could speak comfortably. Those who

answered “yes” were marked with “positive” Talk Tests. The first time

participants who reported they could not speak comfortably, the

researchers took this as a negative Talk Test. A third category of

“equivocal” was assigned to participants who were uncertain about or

could not indicate their level of comfort in speaking during a testing

phase.

This process included measurement of the participants’ ventilatory

threshold, the point where breathing begins to increase

disproportionately to the increase in workload, and a marker of the

sustainability of a particular exercise intensity. Heart rate and

perceived exertion, established markers of exercise training intensity,

also were monitored and compared to the results of the Talk Test. The

results indicated the exercise intensity at the Talk Test was

approximately the same as at the ventilatory threshold during both modes

of exercise. When speech was no longer comfortable, exercise intensity

was consistently above the ventilatory threshold.

" The Talk Test is a practical way for people to monitor their intensity

during exercise,” said Carl , Ph.D., FACSM, one of the lead

researchers of the study and ACSM president-elect. “There’s no equipment

or training needed to understand your ability to speak based on how hard

you’re working. Because this study has shown this method to be very

consistent, people can use this in their everyday lives, in gyms or

working out at home, to meet their health and fitness goals while

reducing the risk of injuries or other complications that can happen

with overexertion.”

The American College of Sports Medicine is the largest sports medicine

and exercise science organization in the world. More than 20,000

International, National, and Regional members are dedicated to advancing

and integrating scientific research to provide educational and practical

applications of exercise science and sports medicine.

http://www.acsm.org