In part one of this two part series, I went over some of the history, from my personal perspective, of performance testing. In this section, I'll go over my experience from an actual test recently conducted (April 2009) and let you know what you can expect from a Performance Assessment at Life Time Fitness.

Coach Troy ready for the test.

It's important to know that both members and non-members of Life Time can get a test, known internally as a Cardio Point Assessment. The member can schedule an appointment at the Fitness Services desk on the second floor and the non-member simply needs to call their nearby Life Time Fitness and ask for the Metabolic Specialist to schedule a convenient test time. Soon, the non-member can also visit www.lifetimeendurance.com to register online for a Performance Assessment. If you'd like to schedule a test now, email info@lifetimeendurance.com

Once your test is scheduled, you'll be asked to adhere to a few rules in order to receive accurate results.

Key things to follow prior to the test:
1) No caffeine 5 hrs prior to the assessment.
2) You do not want to be sore from a workout yesterday (avoid a hard workout) and you want the assessment to be the first activity you do for the day.
3) Do not eat a large meal within 3-hours of the assessment.
4) Avoid alcohol 10-12 hours prior to your test.

Once on the fitness floor (2nd floor at most LTF locations), go to the fitness services desk where you'll be greeted by your technician (Metabolic Specialist) and given some paperwork to complete, taking less than 5 minutes. You'll then be asked a few simple questions about your current fitness level, exercise history and goals. I found the metabolic specialist to be very friendly and reassuring, taking away any fear or anxiety someone might have prior to getting tested.

The next step is to place your Polar Heart Rate monitor strap around your chest. They'll have one for you to use if you don't have your own. You'll then be asked to don your 'mask', which is a neoprene face mask that fits comfortably over your face and straps behind your neck and over your head with Velcro. It looks menacing in a kind of 'Hannibal Lecter' way, but it's very comfortable. I might use mine for my next winter bike ride! One sensation some people have is that of being claustrophobic. Actually, the breathing hole (or pneumotach, where the air passes through and is measured), is larger than your windpipe so it's very easy to breath….much easier than the old snorkel apparatus from the old days.

Once I was all set, my technician started the test by having me start a light walk on the treadmill to get warmed up, at around 3-4 mph. While doing this, the computer was analyzing my breathing rate and percentages of carbon dioxide and oxygen going through the pneumotach. This information was being calculated by the New Leaf computer software and informing the technician of the exact percentages of fats and carbs I was burning during the test.

After a few minutes, the speed was ramped up to 7 mph. The speed increase varies according to the fitness level of the athlete being tested and the tech determined that 7 mph would be a comfortable range for someone with my fitness level (I had recently run a half marathon at a 6:04/mile pace). As she did this, my heart rate was gradually rising, and every minute or two, she increased the grade of the treadmill, making the effort more and more difficult.

Summary information including threshold and VO2 at threshold data.

It's been a few years since last I was tested so this was very intriguing. The last time I was tested, it was using a bike protocol in 2005 and my anaerobic threshold, that range where your body burns all carbs and exercise duration is very limited, was at a heart rate of 165. This time, using a run protocol, my breathing was labored and my legs were getting heavy at a HR of 165 as the speed stayed at 7 mph and the grade was approaching 10%. I felt under control and knew my fitness was decent. As the grade was bumped up over a few more minutes to 12+%, I knew that I was near AT as my breathing was becoming very labored and my legs started to fill slowly with that 'burn' of lactic acid. At that time, before the suffering even began in earnest (you know, that 'I want to stop!!' feeling), the technician reduced the speed and incline and started the cooldown. Nice -- it was over and I didn't get flung off the back of the treadmill as I might have years ago! (See Part I.)

Upon returning to a nice slow walking pace and recovering, the tech took my recovery HR at a minute (35 beat recovery) and 2 minutes (52 beat recovery). The goal is to recovery about 30 bpm and 50 bpm respectively, showing a high level of fitness as your body quickly flushes and removes the waste byproducts created by intense exercise.

After the test, the technician took a few minutes to print out the results and we sat down for the consultation and to go over them. I was pleasantly surprised at the depth of knowledge the metabolic specialist had and that she was able to explain the results from the perspective of an endurance athlete. With our Performance Testing services, we'll be including a 20 minute phone consultation with a Life Time Endurance coach for anyone who signs up online to add even more value and information to the experience.

The information one receives from the test is incredibly useful when it comes to training program development. In fact, it's nearly impossible to train 'with a purpose' without having real time heart rate training data and knowing when and where your body transfers from one energy system to the next. For example, based on the test, my Zone 1 is from 151 -161. This is where I burn mostly fat (the preferred source of fuel for endurance athletes at lower intensities) at a combined rate (carbs/fat) of roughly 18 calories per minute. Zone 2 is between 161 - 166. Here, I start tapping into a higher percentage of carbohydrate, burning about 21 calories per minute. 166-171 is Zone 3, where I burn just a fraction of fat as fuel and around 23 calories per minute. As I hit a HR of 171-181 or Zone 4, I go anaerobic and burn 99.9% carbohydrate. This effort is sustainable for relatively short periods of time and involves a moderately high to very high level of suffering to sustain it. Over a HR of 181, I'm in total sprint mode and this effort is sustainable for less than a minute before the 'wheels come off'!

Heart Rate Training Zones.

In addition, I discovered that my VO2 at threshold is 61.5 ml/kg/min. As discussed before, this information doesn't mean a whole lot from a training perspective, but it gives me useful information to compare against in subsequent tests. It's predicted that my Peak VO2 (VO2max) might be close to 70 ml/kg/min., not bad some 20 years after my first test when I 'blew' a 73 ml/kg/min!

During the consultation, the metabolic specialist also gave me some workouts to do, based on my test results and my goals. Although not customized to my specific needs, they are effective in giving me a good template in which to follow. A Life Time Endurance coach will be able to take this training data and create very specific training programs.

At the conclusion of our consultation, which lasted between 15-20 minutes, I was given all of my results in color print-outs in a Life Lab Folder. Additionally, I was told that an email was sent to me giving me access to all of my test information, results and workouts online at www.enewleaf.com This site archives all of your test data and enables you to compare one test to the next, to help you monitor your progress. In addition, you can communicate with your coach through the site, log your training information AND the coach can develop your training program based on your HR zones. And best of all, if you have a POLAR heart rate monitor, you can upload your training heart rates and both you and your coach can view your daily workout results.

Training program design at eNewleaf.com

Overall, the test was comprehensive, painless and offered an undeniably high level of information for any endurance athlete, from an age grouper to an elite. And due to the sub-max nature of the test, an athlete can be tested more frequently (6 - 12 weeks between tests, depending on the athlete's goals and fitness level) than when ask to do a mind-blowing and leg ripping Peak VO2 test.

My recommendation is that everyone serious about training effectively and maximizing their training time get tested using this system. Multisport athletes should be tested using the bike and run modalities as both will yield varying results (i.e. bike values are typically lower than run values). By knowing when your body transfers into that anaerobic state, long distance endurance athletes, like Ironman distance racers and marathoners in particular, can better understand their pacing for race day and know when they are going too hard and tapping into limited carbohydrate stockpiles. One can even tailor their nutritional intake to match metabolic requirements. Additionally, typical 'type a' athletes who feel that everyday needs to be a hammerfest quickly learn that by doing so (that is, hammering near or above threshold), they never fully develop their 'aerobic foundation', or that ability to utilize fat more effectively as a fuel source and therefore always limit their potential in long course races.

If you're interested in learning more about Performance Assessments at Life Time Fitness, please contact info@lifetimeendurance.com and someone will assist you.

Thanks for reading through this 2-part series on Performance Assessment. Look for more information about this in the near future at www.lifetimeendurance.com or contact me if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Coach Troy Jacobson
tjacobson@lifetimefitness.com

Troy Jacobson is the National Director for Endurance Sports Training at Life Time Fitness.

Related Articles

·  Endurance Tip - Protect yer' Noggin' ·  ENDURANCE TIP with Coach Troy - SLOW DOWN SAFELY ON THE BIKE ·  Diabetes and Endurance Athletes ·  Plyometrics and Running Economy