Dr. Rick Slott discusses the results of a “resting metabolic rate” test with Paul Poggi. The test measures how many calories someone burns while resting, which helps provides valuable information on how many calories someone burns during the day – without exercising.

Burn, baby, burn.
Most of the time, losing weight and getting fit are just that simple.
“If you want to lose weight, the amount of energy (calories) you expend has to be more than the amount of energy you consume.” Says Dr. Rick Slott, owner of Advanced Weight Management Center in North Charleston. “In general, losing weight, maintaining weight or gaining weight is a matter of energy balances.” But within that simple equation, there are factors that are not so cut and dried – such as how much energy an individual burns and how hard a person needs to work out to achieve a certain goal. The way we burn energy depends on age, gender, weight, diet, genetics and how physically active we are in our jobs, in raising families and in the amount of deliberate exercise we get. That’s why Slott is a big believer in finding out those factors before determining someone’s eating and workout program. And he’s tapping into sports-medicine technology that is increasingly moving from research labs and elite athlete training facilities to the mainstream. Primarily, the equipment and computer program, his is from Minnesota-based New Leaf Health & Fitness, measures oxygen intake, carbon dioxide productions and heart rate. It combines the information with factors such as age and gender.
Slott works with the West Ashley LifeQuest Health & Wellness club on a program to tailor fitness plans based on at least one of two possible tests. In recent weeks, he has been stopping by the club doing the tests.

RESTING METABOLISM
The first and most important test is find out a person’s “resting metabolic rate.” That’s the number of calories someone burns at rest. It’s the energy burned by basic functions, such as the heart beating and maintaining the body’s core temperature. Then he factors in an estimate of the number of calories someone burns at work, obviously fewer for sedentary hob and more for a construction worker, and he comes up with the number of calories needed just to live.
Slott, for example, has a resting metabolic rate of 1,750 calories a day. Add 400 calories for walking during work. If he eats 2,150 calories a day, he would not gain or lose weight. That’s his baseline. It’s basic math from there. One pound of fat equals about 3,500 calories. If someone wants to lose one pound per week, he or she would eat 500 calories less or burn 500 calories more (or some combination of those) a day than the adjusted resting metabolic rate. “It’s not any more complicated than that,” says Slott. “Go to Barnes & Noble and there are 1,700 books on diets. Some say you shouldn’t eat carbohydrates or fats, and there is some physiological basis for saying that. But the bottom line is managing energy balances.” Unlike some popular diets, such as Atkins, which prescribes minimizing carbohydrates, Slott advocates a healthy dietary balance of about 30-40 percent protein, 20-30 percent fat and the rest complex carbohydrates, such as fruits and vegetables (not candy bars).

VO2 MAX
Sounds like a shampoo or deodorant, right? Exercise experts and runners are perhaps the most familiar with the term VO2 max, or “volume of oxygen uptake” at maximum capacity. In specific scientific terms, VO2 max is the maximum amount of oxygen, expressed in milliliters, that one can use in one minute per kilogram of body weight. More simply, VO2 max is a gauge of the maximum amount of energy output, or work, your body can produce at peak performance.
A person can reach his or her VO2 max for only a brief moment before nearing exhaustion.
Slott compares something knowing his or her VO2 man to a NASCAR driver knowing the top speed of his car. VO2 max is important because it provides someone with a guideline for how hard he should exercise to burn fat or carbohydrates. Those ranges, or zones, are determined by heart rate, and heart rate most easily is monitored with a heart-rate monitor. Working out in a less intensive zone tends to make the body burn fat. More intense workouts tend to burn carbohydrates. So those wanting to lose weight would work out less intensely but for longer periods of time. Those who don’t have a weight problem and want to get more fit should plan to include a couple of more intense workouts. “By learning your VO2 max, it will give you the information you need to exercise smarter,” says Slott.

BURNING FAT OR CARBS?
An offshoot of the VO2 max testing is another telling piece of data called “respiratory quotient”, which is the ratio of the amount of carbon dioxide produced to the amount of oxygen consumed. It’s telling because if someone’s RQ is relatively high, he tends to burn more carbohydrates than fat, therby having a greater tendency to being overweight regardless of resting metabolic rate, says Slott. He adds that people who have a low RQ value are more likely to lose weight. By knowing his RQ, however, an individual can plan a better strategy for eating and working out.

TESTS VS. CHARTS
Lots of endurance athletes use heart-rate charts already – without taking metabolic or VO2 max tests. Those charts are based on age and personal performance, the latter based on the results of racing events, such as a 10k road race. To a degree, Slott believes “charts are charts,” and he has seen inaccuracies in the research, which is the basis for the charts. “The whole point of doing the testing is not to pigeonhole you,” says Slott. “With information, you can tailor the way you want to work out and achieve your goals.” Metabolic equipment used by Slott will prescribe an “action plan” for various goals, ranging from losing a half-pound a week to 2 pounds a week. Each sets forward specific caloric deficits and “trim it or burn it” plans. For example, skip the fast-food burger or swim for an hour. By working with personal trainers at LifeQuest, a member can take the information and design a fitness strategy.

TRANSFORMING TECHNOLOGY
Tim Sebold, managing partner of LifeQuest, says he likes the idea of testing metabolism and VO2 max because it takes the guesswork out of nutrition and training programs. “People want to see results. If they don’t see results, they get discouraged,” says Sebold. “Knowing your unique metabolic rates allows you to train more efficiently, saving you time and increasing your success. (The tests) will show you exactly where your heart rate needs to be and for how long to maximize the amount of calories burned. Kathleen McGraw of L ifeQuest is training to be a facilitator in the doctor-health club partnership and recently worked with member Paul Poggi, 36, on his testing. Poggi was familiar with the idea of training within certain zones, but learned much from performing the tests, including the fact that some of his heart-rate ranges differed from charts he was using. “I’m in better shape than the charts say I am,” says Poggi, a businessman who lies on Seabrook Island. Poggi is not in need of motivation to workout. He takes a spinning class twice a week, works out in a “boot camp” twice a week and fills in the rest of the week with workouts on cardio equipment and a martial-arts class. He’s “into the low-carb thing” but admits to having a hearty appetite. He decided to take the tests because he knew he was getting in better shape and wanted some way of measuring. He sees it, however, as even more useful for someone who has specific goals. “For someone who has an issue with weight control, it will make it easier for them to get fit other than having this notion of ‘cutting back’ on eating. It’s a measure to help gauge to process and make adjustments.”
Contact David Quick.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
The metabolic analysis tests are performance by Dr. Rick Slott at LifeQuest Health & Wellness. The cost for members is $99 for the resting metabolic rate (RMR) tests or $149 for the RMR plus VO2 max aerobic capacity tests. The cost for nonmembers is $149 and $199, respectively. Included in the price is a neoprene mask that can be used for future tests, a report on caloric intake and exercise, and a recommendation on how to exercise.

PREDICTING PERFORMANCE
In recent years, runners have used “performance-based” training to improve running efficiency and speed. They take times for certain distances, such as the 5K or 10K, to train for other events or to predict times for other events, such as the half-marathon or marathon. Similar to testing, the performance predictions are based on VO2 max levels. While sometimes stunningly accurate, the numbers are general and, for events such as the marathon, depend heavily on endurance training. The bottom line is this: The more fit you are, the higher your VO2 max. Case in point, five-time Tour de France cycling champion Lance Armstrong has a whopping VO2 max of 83.8. Using the chart below, someone who runs a mile all-out in about eight minutes, for example, has a VO2 max level of 35. If he or she were to train for a 10K, his or her best time would be about 56 minutes.