How Much Exercise? Don't Guess, Take the Test.
Czerne M. Reid - Staff Writer - The State
Jan. 12, 2006

Some people never can seem to lose weight no matter how hard they exercise. And others train hard but aren’t quite sure if they’re training the right way to improve their sports performance.

If you fall into one of these categories, a tailored workout program could give your workout a jump-start in the new year.

A tool called cardiopulmonary metabolic testing can help individuals identify the best way for them to train and meet fitness goals. The testing has long been in use by world-class athletes, research labs and hospitals. Now it’s available in the Midlands and helps personal trainers design more appropriate training programs for clients. It is also a good tool for those who work out on their own.

“It takes the guesswork out of things,” said Ellie Jarman, a trainer at Hampton Hill Athletic Club, which recently started offering the testing using equipment made by New Leaf Health & Fitness.

Through the tests, the club’s trainers have found that many people do their cardiovascular workouts at heart rates that are too high for efficiently burning body fat. Trainers then might recommend that these people exercise at lower heart rates for longer periods and more often.

Metabolic stress testing is also available at USC’s Fit Place, a personalized exercise program offered by the exercise science department in the Arnold School of Public Health.

Taking the Test
During metabolic stress testing, the subject mouth-breathes into a mask connected to a gas analyzer while wearing a heart monitor and exercising on a treadmill or bike. Computer software analyzes and graphs data showing how efficiently the person uses the oxygen he or she inhales and how well fat is being burned in various heart-rate zones.

The test pinpoints the anaerobic threshold – the point beyond which your body can’t use inhaled oxygen fast enough. At that point, the body starts producing energy anaerobically – without oxygen – and in the process produces lactic acid, which makes muscles hurt and gives athletes a feeling of “hitting the wall.” With appropriate training, people can raise their anaerobic threshold and improve their performance.

Keith Iwinski, a national-level competitive cyclist and triathlete, said testing at Hampton Hill gave him a detailed picture of the heart rate zones to work in and where to focus his training efforts.

“I got a lot more than I thought I would,” said Iwinski, manager of Outsponkin’ Bicycles. But he also likes the fact that the test can help people of all fitness levels.

“I think that the neatest part about it is it doesn’t have to be for a competitive athlete.”

Subjects have to exercise to exhaustion during the test. But the intensity is tailored to each person’s fitness level, said David Harvin, Hampton Hill’s fitness director.

“This is a very user-friendly test; it meets you where you are.”

Still, people who have heart or lung disease or a family history of either should consult their doctor before testing, said Dr. James Barker, chief of the division of pulmonary and critical care at USC School of Medicine. That division will be trying out its newly acquired stress testing equipment this month. In hospitals, stress testing is used for – among other things – evaluating people before or after cardiac or pulmonary rehabilitation, and helping to distinguish between heart and lung disease.

Exercise science researchers use stress testing to measure how performance improves as a result of training. Larry Durstine, chairman of USC’s exercise science department, has used metabolic stress testing extensively in his research.

“For people who want to enhance performance, I think its an appropriate test,” Durstine said.

By altering training strategies, three people should see body improvement

Jennifer Ryan
25-year-old student and mixologist

Reason for test: “I have been exercising for year and felt that I had reached a plateau and wanted to go to the next level but didn’t know how,” Ryan said
What test showed: Jennifer has a good aerobic base, but has the potential for working in higher heart rate zones to raise her overall efficiency (for her, 160-174 beats per minute), allowing her to increase fat utilization across a broader heart range.
Changes in training: By targeting a specific hear rate range, Jennifer is spending less time at the gym, but becoming more efficient and able to maintain a higher training intensity. The change will increase her anaerobic threshold and raise her overall calorie expenditure and fat utilization.

Keith Iwinski
35-year-old bicycle shop manager, national class triathlete and mountain bike racer

Reason for test: Iwinski wanted to know what he should do to improve his race performance.
What the test showed: Keith is in excellent shape. He trains frequently at a heart rate of about 150 beats per minute. He has peak cardiovascular efficiency in this range, but has reduced fat utilization from 188bpm to 146bpm. To race faster, and recover more quickly he needs to raise fat utilization at the lower as well as higher heart rate ranges.
Changes in training: Working more in the prescribed lower range as well as in a higher range than he usually does. That means he has to go easier on easy days and harder on hard days. That will help him race harder and recover more quickly.

Barton Dumas
35-year-old restaurateur

Reason for test: “I had been exercising and not seeing the results that I wanted,” Dumas said. He wanted to lose weight and improve his overall health.
What the test showed: Dumas’ aerobic base is not well developed, and that reduces fat-burning efficiency. This resulted from training at heart rates that were too high for his current fitness level.
Changes in training: To increase his fat-burning capacity, he needed to work in a lower heart-rate zone and intensity level for a longer period of time. When he retested eight weeks after the initial test, his fat utilization had improved by more than 20 percent, and he had lost 16 pounds.