Surgery – Diagnostic testing – Cardiovascular
Patent
1996-10-15
2000-08-15
Jastrzab, Jeffrey R.
Surgery
Diagnostic testing
Cardiovascular
600521, A61B 50456
Patent
active
061049476
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for determining exertion levels in fitness or athletic training and for determining the stress caused by training by means of heartbeat rate measurement.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heartbeat rate measurement is used in fitness and athletic training for determining working capacity or a stress level. This is based on the observation that an almost linear dependency exists between heartbeat rate and increasing working capacity within the main exertion area. The change in the energy production processes of vital functions, such as respiration, heartbeat rate and muscular action, i.e. metabolism, is generally used in determining exertion levels, for instance by means of lactic acid, which is a waste material of the energy production processes.
When a person starts the training, the lactic acid content of muscles and blood falls at first slightly below the starting level. This is due to stimulated circulation, and to lactic acid decomposition and removal processes improving with muscular action. Thereafter, when the exertion level is steadily increased, the lactic acid content starts to increase linearly in relation to the stress. The working capacity at which the lactic acid content reaches its starting value is referred to as the aerobic threshold, at which corresponding vital function levels, such as heartbeat rate frequency and oxygen consumption, can be determined.
At working capacities lower than the aerobic threshold, energy is produced aerobically, i.e. by burning mainly fats and a small amount of carbohydrates by means of oxygen. At working capacities higher than the threshold, energy is produced to an ever-increasing degree anaerobically, i.e. in a manner involving an oxygen debt, whereby more and more lactic acid is correspondingly produced in the tissues. At the same time, the proportional amount of the use of fats in energy production decreases, and carbohydrates become the main source of energy.
When the performance level is further increased, a situation finally arrives where the system is no longer capable of processing the amount of lactic acid produced in energy production. The disturbance of the balance is detected as an abruptly increasing content of lactic acid in the blood and as a distinct increase in lung ventilation, taking place at the same time. This exertion level, which is significant as regards training, is referred to as the anaerobic threshold.
The exact determination of the aerobic and anaerobic threshold is carried out today in special test laboratories by means of a maximum stress test based on breathing gas analysis. The test is started with a small stress. The stress is increased without an intermission by small steps at intervals of 2-3 minutes all the way to the maximum exertion. From the last 30 seconds of each stress level, the ventilation, used oxygen, and produced carbondioxide are registered, and a blood sample is taken to determine the lactic acid level. The threshold values are determined by means of the lactic acid and the breathing parameters. However, the results are clearly affected by the manner of applying the stress, the speed of increasing the stress, and the stress levels used, whereby threshold values of different magnitudes are obtained in different physical stress situations, for instance with the use of a running mat and an ergometer. On the other hand, the repeatability of the aerobic and anaerobic thresholds is questionable; for instance in increasing the stress in a sliding manner and not by steps, the threshold phenomena can not be detected. Reference is made for instance to U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,558, according to which a person must be subjected, in determining the exertion level of the person, to exertion increasing by steps during the training period in order that the points of discontinuity in the heartbeat rate variation graph, indicating the limits of different exertion levels, would appear sufficiently clearly.
Today, the deter
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Heikkila Ilkka
Pietila Arto
Jastrzab Jeffrey R.
Polar Electro OY
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