Renowned exercise physiologist Per-Olaf Åstrand has often said
that exercising is safer than remaining sedentary. This is
almost universally true, because exercise produces many
healthful benefits that reduce the risk of diseases associated
with inactivity – coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular
disease, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, certain forms of cancer,
and so on. Yet exercise carries some risk. It increases
metabolic demands on the heart and increases sympathetic nervous
activity – factors that could trigger a heart attack in people
who already have coronary heart disease. Because the many people
with undiagnosed heart disease are particularly at risk,
screening clients is critical to ensure safety. Before
performing exercise testing on clients, and enrolling them in an
exercise program, you should evaluate them to determine their
level of risk and to decide if it is reasonably safe to proceed.
Table 1.1 provides a screening form for evaluating clients
regarding their level of risk to exercise.