The results of a veloergometric investigation of 160 persons, most of whom were patients with ischemic heart disease, are analyzed. The method of graded physical loads is a necessary complement and continuation of clinical and instrumental examination of patients afflicted with ischemic heart disease. A key electrocardiographic indication of coronary insufficiency identifiable following physical loading is a shift of the ST segment. This sign helps disclose the presence of latent coronary insufficiency in most patients with typical angina pectoris and in 25 per cent of patients with an atypical form of this ailment. In some of the patients with ischemic heart disease the results of the test can be utilized in recognizing early stages of cardiac incompetence. A feature distinguishing the response to a physical load in patients with ischemic heart disease is a greater accretion of systolic pressure than in the case of healthy individuals.