Vo2max Testing Orange County - Vo2medical, LLC.

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(Free-Press-Release.com) September 25, 2009 -- Vo2 Medical of Los Angeles offer Vo2max Testing for all types of Athletes in LA, Orange County, Ventura, San Bernardino and San Diego County. Active Metabolic Testing & Ventilatory Threshold testing is the best performance test for endurance sports.

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What are the benefits of cardiovascular activity? What does it mean to be physically fit?

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Vo2max Testing Orange County - Vo2medical, LLC.

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Most people participate in “cardio” activities to lose weight, am I right? I often hear the laments of many that they absolutely hate doing cardio, but do it because they “have” to. Now I don’t think that anyone should do anything they don’t want to do, but in a sense they are right. Cardio is a must. But why?


The benefits of cardiovascular activity are numerous. Endless studies have shown healthful benefits such as increased aerobic capacity, increased lung capacity, endurance, caloric expenditure (the most popular reason, I am sure), and a reduced risk of heart attack, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes. But the benefits do not end there. Cardio has also been proven to aid in digestion, reduce stress and help with sleep.

As a personal trainer, I would always recommend a sound program that consistently incorporates cardiovascular activity as well as resistance and flexibility training. Strength training yields higher bone density, helps with injury prevention, increases lean mass and muscle strength and even helps improve balance and flexibility. Not commonly known, however, is an increase in metabolic rate that lasts longer than that spike influenced by a cardio session. Most training sessions (with the exception of circuit training which may involve more aerobic energy to be utilized) are anaerobic, so cardio sessions in addition to anaerobic strength training and flexibility sessions would be very complimentary. Increased flexibility yields increased range of motion about a joint.


An increase in capillary density of the working muscles is shown to be one of the direct effects of endurance training. This has an influence in the submaximal work rate, as the working muscles would require less blood flow after training. Scientific evidence shows that the limitation to VO2 max is dependent on the ability of the cardiorespiratory system to deliver oxygen to the muscles, not the ability of the mitochondria to consume oxygen.

I came across a medical study that reviewed insulin sensitivity in the varying muscle fiber types. Capillary density was also compared. Without getting too scientific and discussing skeletal muscle morphology, the general conclusion was that type I and type IIa muscle fiber types seem to have the greatest insulin sensitivity, while type IIx seem to have the least. Capillary arrangement and muscle fiber detail are thought to be related to insulin action.


Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas that helps the cells convert glucose into energy. Glucose is formed during the breakdown of food. Extra fat tissue can make your body resistant to the actions of insulin. Therefore, it is recommended that an ideal bodyweight be maintained. This can be achieved through proper diet and exercise, naturally.

What does it mean to be “insulin resistant”? If you have insulin resistance, your muscle, fat and liver cells do not use insulin as they should. Your pancreas will increase insulin production in order to keep up with the body’s demands, but it can’t always keep up. This would cause an excess of glucose to build up in the bloodstream. The medical community may term those individuals with slightly excess levels of glucose in their blood as “pre-diabetic”. A proper diet and exercise regimen would prevent the individual from developing type 2 diabetes, or adult-onset diabetes.


Since you are reading content that is posted on a Website devoted entirely to VO2 max, or performance testing, you are most likely an athlete looking to make some gains in your competition performance. So I will stand by my recommendations for training at a higher rate of intensity in keeping with the concept of training specificity.

However, most individuals are just looking for general conditioning and weight loss. What then? You have probably heard of the “fat-burning zone”. This an area of discussion that is much disputed within the fitness industry. Pretty much all cardio machines now have options that allow you to select a training program. So knowing your VO2 max in order to then work at a percentage of that estimate is a good start to planning properly. An interval session at a moderate pace/resistance would most likely allow you to “tap into” a few of your energy stores. It is generally thought that since your body uses its fat stores for energy during low- to moderate-intensity exercise, that a lower intensity of exercise is the preferred training zone for fat loss. However, since the real key to weight loss is caloric expenditure, the preferred target should be on calories burned per session. Energy expenditure increases with intensity and, as a result, a higher number of calories would be burned. For weight loss, it is more important to look at total number of calories burned per session versus which fuel is metabolized. (3500 kcal = 1 lb.) Additionally, high intensity exercise also increases metabolic rate and excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) after a training session. Your body will not remain in a state of homeostasis during and post-exercise. Changes that occur during this oxygen debt phase include the replacement of creatine phosphate (used to immediately resynthesize ATP), the resynthesis of lactic acid to glucose and elevated body temperature and heart rate.

The amount of calories burned per day will not only be dependent upon time and intensity, but will also vary according to the basal metabolic rate (BMR) and resting metabolic rate (RMR) of the individual. The basal metabolic rate is the rate of energy expenditure at rest, or the minimum energy required to perform life functions at rest. This is best measured when the digestive system is inactive, or after a fast of about twelve hours. The resting metabolic rate represents the energy expended to maintain life and normal body functions. It is often difficult for researchers to obtain the BMR under ideal conditions, so the RMR is used most times as a gauge. These calculations are often used interchangeably.

How does your metabolism affect your workload and results? Assuming you are a 35-year-old woman who is 5’7” and 135 lbs., your RMR would be somewhere around 1335 kcal per day. In comparison, a 25-year-old woman at the same height and weight would have a RMR of 1385 kcal - about 50 kcal more. This accounts for the 2 to 3% decrease in BMR per decade, which begins after age 20. Something we all look forward to, no doubt. Men generally have a higher BMR, as this measurement is proportional to fat-free mass, and as men generally record higher lean mass than women. I know, ladies, unfair! Don’t even get me started on that one …
A 6’0”, 200 lb. male would have a RHR around 1873 kcal per day. Since BMR represents about 60 to 75% of total energy expenditure in most sedentary individuals, some may need to work a bit harder to expend the same number of calories. Genetics, once again, plays a role. So go ahead and blame your parents for this one too. I am sure they are resilient by now.

How many calories are burned during an exercise session? That’s a good question. And, again, it varies. The outcome will depend on the activity and intensity, obviously, but is also influenced by your weight and metabolism. Assuming you are between 130 and 155 lbs., you may burn about 300 to 350 kcal an hour riding a stationary bike at a very leisurely pace. Step it up a notch to a more moderate ride, and expect to burn about 400 to 500 kcal per hour. Rowing is a great way to burn calories fast, and I recommend the ergometer (indoor rowing machine) to my clients often. An individual within the above-mentioned weight range would burn about 500 to 600 kcal during a moderate rowing session. An added bonus is killer upper body strength. My older sister was on the crew team at La Salle University when she was in college and, boy, did I have major lat and trap envy during crew season!

A workout I have been trying recently is 1,852 meters (1 nautical mile), broken down into 6 splits. Row easy for about 100 meters, then go hard for about 200 meters, then easy again for about 100 meters, continuing until you reach close to 2,000 meters (with some leeway in number given to the recovery meters). It will only take you about 10 minutes or so, and will leave your heart racing. It’s a kick in the pants, and a great way to burn a large number of calories fast! Try it sometime, and see if you come anywhere close to the world record for 2,000 meters. (men: 5:36.6, women: 6:28.4)


Most cardio machines have calorie calculators that are dependent on the weight entered when choosing a specific program. For more accuracy, I’d recommend imputing a lower bodyweight in order to account for any discrepancies. Plus, your nosy treadmill neighbor doesn’t need to know everything about you, does she?

The American Council on Exercise (ACE) has a strong position on nutritional supplements. I am not a nutritionist or a dietitian, so I am not permitted to recommend supplementation to my clients, as it is outside of the scope of a fitness professional. I have tried lots and lots of products through the years. Some have helped me make gains, and some like glucosamine have helped alleviate joint pain. But the best results I have had are always achieved one way. Yup! You guessed it: exercise!

More information can be found online at http://www.vo2medical.com

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