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The talk test judges exercise intensity by your breath: at moderate intensity you can talk but not sing, and at vigorous intensity you cannot say more than a few words without pausing for breath. It needs no equipment, so you can use it on any walk, ride or run.

Exercise science

Health

The story behind the card

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends the talk test because anyone can use it. Research has found that the point where comfortable talking becomes difficult lies close to the ventilatory threshold, the effort level at which breathing starts to speed up sharply, so it is a reasonable stand-in for measured intensity. The NHS and the World Health Organization advise adults to do at least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity, or a mix of the two. The test is not the same as 'Zone 2', a popular training target, usually a steady and fairly easy effort, that coaches define in different ways: by heart rate, by the level of lactate in the blood or by breathing thresholds.

Türkçe oku
Konuşma testi, egzersizin ne kadar zorladığını nefesinden anlamanı sağlar: Orta şiddette hareket ederken konuşabilirsin ama şarkı söyleyemezsin; yüksek şiddette ise soluklanmak için durmadan birkaç kelimeden fazlasını söyleyemezsin. Hiçbir alet gerektirmediği için her yürüyüşte, bisiklet turunda ya da koşuda kullanabilirsin.

ABD Hastalık Kontrol ve Önleme Merkezleri (CDC), herkesin kolayca uygulayabileceği için konuşma testini öneriyor. Araştırmalar, rahatça konuşmanın zorlaştığı noktanın ventilasyon eşiğine, yani solunumun birden hızlanmaya başladığı efor düzeyine yakın olduğunu gösteriyor. Bu yüzden test, cihazla ölçüm yapmadan eforu tahmin etmenin makul bir yoludur. Birleşik Krallık'ın ulusal sağlık kurumu NHS ve Dünya Sağlık Örgütü, yetişkinlere haftada en az 150 dakika orta şiddette ya da 75 dakika yüksek şiddette hareketi veya ikisinin bir karışımını öneriyor. Konuşma testi, popüler “Zone 2” antrenman bölgesiyle aynı şey değildir. Zone 2 genellikle sabit ve oldukça rahat bir tempoyu anlatır; antrenörler onu kalp hızına, kandaki laktat düzeyine ya da solunum eşiklerine göre farklı biçimlerde tanımlar.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Exercise intensity
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