How to Check for Heart Disease | Men's Health News

Even if your cholesterol levels are in check, you?re not off the hook for heart disease. Sixty percent of the men who died of heart disease in a 17-year study had normal cholesterol levels, but low levels of fitness. A man with a low level of fitness had more than twice the risk of dying from heart disease than a man with a high level of fitness. (Worried about your risk? Here?s your complete heart disease prevention plan.)

But how do you know if you?re fit enough? The Cooper 12-minute Run Test is a reliable measure of your cardiovascular fitness. All you need is a stopwatch and a track.

Here?s how to do it: Head to a local track on a day with little wind. After a warm-up of at least 5 minutes, run as fast and as far as you can during a 12-minute period. At the end of the time, calculate your overall distance using the track, and then take a five-minute cool down. If you have a GPS watch, run as far as you can on a flat route for 12 minutes.

Note how many miles you covered. (If you were running on a track, multiply the number of quarter laps by 0.062 to calculate miles.) Take a look at the chart below to see your fitness level based on your age and distance.

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Source: http://news.menshealth.com/test-your-fitness/2012/11/13/

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