Let’s start by saying that a medical fitness examination can save your life. Running is a pleasant sport which can be highly uplifting. You can feel in touch with nature and your own body, and it is also a social activity.
Before practising this wonderful sport, however, it is important to make sure that you are sufficiently fit and able to take the exertion. And this is where the title of the article comes in: you must go for a medical fitness examination.
It is often considered as just a formality or duty, but is in fact an essential means of ascertaining the proper functioning of our body and the entire cardiovascular system, and identifying the presence of silent pathologies that could endanger our life, and not just when we exercise. This reasoning of course applies to people of all ages, children and adults alike, and also to many other sports.
A medical fitness examination usually costs half the price of a pair of good quality running shoes, but is invaluable, because in addition to assessing your suitability in terms of health, sport and the law (it is a legal obligation!), it can be considered an asset, and the most important of all.
It is generally valid for 365 days, and so you should have one every year. The sports clubs we sign up for are responsible in this regard and it is their duty to check the suitability of their athletes for practising sport, but the athlete should ultimately take responsibility for him or herself. The Federation of Athletics now also requires tangible proof of certification.
Not all amateurs are enrolled in a sports club, but they should still undergo a medical fitness examination before committing themselves to a sport like running that requires a high level of muscular and cardiorespiratory endurance. In this case it is important, before running, to see your family doctor, as he or she will recommend specialised and qualified facilities where medical fitness examinations are carried out.
We cannot stress enough just how important this is, no matter what your level or age. Athletes have nothing to lose: go for an examination and you will not regret it. The medical practitioner to be seen is a Physician specialized in sports medicine.
What does the examination involve? This is it in brief.
The first step of the examination is a conversation with the patient, the collection of anthropometric data (height and weight), a sight test, a chest examination, and a blood pressure test. An electrocardiogram is then carried out both before and after a step test or cycle ergometer test. In addition, there is a spirometry test and a urine examination.
These provide the doctor with important information. He can then declare suitability (and therefore issue a certificate valid for 365 days) or non-suitability, in which case there will be specific follow-up tests to identify the nature of the problem.
Your sports club or your family doctor knows the qualified facilities where you can go for this type of examination, which we strongly recommend you do.
