I always knew metabolic assessments as ‘VO2 Max tests’. The first time I came across them was while on holiday in Austria quite a number of years ago. At that time, I knew very little about what it could tell me. As an obsessive for numbers, I hooked on the Vo2Max number, and pretty much ignored the rest of the information. Yes, it told me heart raze zones, but so what!?
What is VO2 Max? ‘VO2 max is the maximal oxygen uptake or the maximum volume of oxygen that can be utilized in one minute during maximal or exhaustive exercise.’
‘It’s your maximum capacity for oxygen uptake, which is the most oxygen your body can get from the lungs into the blood stream and into the muscles in a minute. It may occur at or below so called HR Max and if it occurs below that, then it is true to say that the body is still processing oxygen beyond the point at which you reached VO2 Max - just less efficiently.....because you respiratory system et al has gone into distress!’ (Steve Casson http://www.cassonz.com)
If you look at the charts, you are able to compare yourself to other like people and see how much fitter (or not) you are perceived to be, compared to your age. What use is that to a triathlete? Not much, I would argue.
‘As coaches we are far more interested in the Aerobic and Anaerobic Thresholds (or Lactate Threshold) and we can achieve significant improvements to these metabolic characteristics through appropriate training and it is indeed our understanding of these parameters that we use to set the training zones.’ Steve Casson
What is more valuable, from a metabolic assessment, is all the other information it tells you.
For this reason, my coach (@CoachCasson) won’t let me call it that, he much prefers the name ‘metabolic assessment’. The reason?
‘A metabolic assessment provides me with a profile of the athlete’s aerobic conditioning and their fat vs. carbohydrate fuel utilisation which is excellent for determining whether their training needs to be adjusted to achieve optimum performance over short, medium or long course racing’ Steve Casson
I recently got a new run coach at the beginning of the winter. He asked me what my max heart rate was. Steve Casson asked me why on earth he wanted to know that for?! Basing everything on max Heart rate is a very generic calculation that does not take into account your own individual fitness.
A Metabolic assessment tells you everything you need to know, and all my training is currently based on them. I get very different heart rate zones from bike tests, than I do from run tests. A generic table calculation wouldn’t tell me this, and I might not in fact realise or reach my potential if I am not training at the right intensity.
How does it work?
The metabolic assessment is conducted on either a treadmill, or a turbo trainer (using my own race bike). I wear a heart rate monitor, and am hooked up to an oxygen mask. The computer analyses the composition of my inhaled oxygen in relation to my heart rate. From that information, the computer (with help from my coach analysing the results) is able to tell me how efficient I am throughout a range of heart rates, as well as telling me what my aerobic and anaerobic thresholds are. I get the tests done at key points in the year, perhaps every 3 months or so.
Quick definition:
Aerobic Base: the fat burning zone, or when greater than 50% of your calories are from fats rather than carbs.
Anerobic Threshold: This is the point where lactic acid is being produced faster than your body can rid itself of it.
What can it tell you?
Had my graph looked a bit more like this, then it would tell me a very different story.
With a graph like this, it is clear that this person has been working on high intensity training, at the expense of the aerobic base work. If this athlete then went on to do a race soon after this test, they may expect themselves to be exhausted before the end of the race, because the base training is not there. When the line hits the bottom, the athlete is 100% burning Carbohydrate. This is a finite fuel, and there is only so much that can be stored in the muscles, so will quickly run out, and you become exhausted and have to slow down.
The Value?
Since I have been getting regular metabolic assessments, I believe they are invaluable. I am able to see where my weak areas are in training, it clearly shows up if I have not been training at the intensity that I am meant to be, and it has made me see that I am much more capable of harder work than I realise.
After my first ever metabolic assessment with Steve Casson, I felt that working within the heart rate zones set was impossible! I gave up long before my heart rate reached anywhere near zone 4 never mind 5!! This showed me that my own perception of what is ‘hard work’ was way way off kilter. A nice link there, to NLP, which shows you that your main limiting factor is yourself!
Now, I value them highly, and each my training plans and zones are very closely based on them. Steve will tweak my training as a result of my latest metabolic test.
So now, hopefully you can see how irrelevant telling my run coach what the max heart rate number was, or even the VO2Max number. What’s important is my efficiency within each heart rate zone, which is clearly defined through this test, enabling me to train at the right intensity all the rest of the times in a week that I don’t have a coach by my side!
To read more about Metabolic assessments from my coach, Steve Casson’s point of view, follow this link: http://alturl.com/96gu4 .
Melanie Ryding
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