Sports Medicine Testing

So today was the big day - I went to the UC Davis sports medicine clinic and had my VO2 max tested, body fat measured and lactic threshhold tested.

I'm still a bit giddy over the results. :D Bear in mind that 30 months ago I weighed 180 pounds. And I don't even want to think about what my body fat was. I have maintained 150 for nearly 2 years, which according to BMI meant I was still overweight. Freaked me out a bit since obesity and high blood pressure are issues my mom and two older sisters are dealing with. But my body fat is only 21% which puts me in the athletic category. I'm pretty happy with that.

The VO2 max test was interesting. My heart rate monitor does a test and it estimated it to be 58 mL/kg/min. Which is really high. The ventilation test showed it to be 41.1. Average for a woman my age is 25 though, so not bad. But it means that my heart rate monitor has been wildly overfiguring my calories burned. Good thing I didn't use that number to justify eating a bunch of junk. :p

The really funny thing is you also get power at VO2 max (200 watts) which the doctor said translates to the potential to maintain 20 miles an hour on the flat - do you ever get a road that's all flat? But watts per kilogram is only 2.9. He says that really good climbers have a minimum of 3 watts per kG. Hmmm... that's why I'm such a slow climber.

The other thing is instructors at the gym and other riders are always telling me my heart rate is way to high. Guess what? I've been keeping it spot on. I just happen to have a high max heart rate.

So I feel really good about the state of my health and my abilities as a bicyclist. I think I'd like to do this testing every year or two. It'd be nice to get the body fat a little bit lower and improve power. Especially since I really like to climb.

Veronica

so can you get your health insurance to pay for this? I am totally serious.

Irulan

I don't know. Thom gave it to me as gift certificate for my birthday.

Veronica

Sounds like you had an excellent day Veronica.

I'd love to try something similar myself to see what kind of shape I'm in. Might have to do some surfing and see if there's anywhere near me that does this kind of thing. You must be pleased to hear your in good shape.

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The other thing is instructors at the gym and other riders are always telling me my heart rate is way to high. Guess what? I've been keeping it spot on. I just happen to have a high max heart rate.

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This is interesting to hear. I've got a feeling my max heart rate is also quite high. When I'm resting I can get it down to about 45 but I when I'm riding I can get it up to about 175-180 fairly easily and I think 195 is the highest I've seen. I know you can't really compare, but what kind of range is yours?

Funny, mine is actually about the same as yours. I can get it to drop into the 40s just by lying quietly. I've seen 194 in Spin class once. I thought I was going to pass out for a few seconds there. :p I'll hit 185 on a steep hill. It generally averages out to be low 160s over the course of a ride, doesn't matter if it's a twenty miler or a century. The doc said that's actually my medium endurance range. Kind of gives me hope that I could complete a double century if I could figure out how to not work so hard and keep it in the long endurance range. :)

Veronica

That's good to know! Mine is about the same on hills and on the flat.

I've been working with my heart rate monitor using 5 different levels or zones and just like you when I come to a climb it zips up, and at one point I got really frustrated. I was meant to be doing long, mid level 2 rides to improve my endurance and the idea wasn't to let your heart rate get too high. I was fine on the flat but it would just shoot up on the hills.

So as you get fitter and stronger does your max heart rate level come down? I'm thinking if your heart is stronger it doesn't need to beat so many times to get the same amount of blood to flow round.

My max heart rate is still about 195 but over the course of this year I've noticed my recovery time has really improved and it starts to drop very much quicker than it used to.

Did they give you any suggestions about how often you should re- do you max heart rate test?

I think your max heart rate changes with age. They did give me some training sheets. But because I'm not interested in racing we didn't spend too much time on them. You know - I want to be fit enough to race, but not actually race. :)

I have noticed that my heart rate drops quite dramatically as I've gotten more fit. I've watched it as we've made a descent on the tandem, drop from175 to low 100s.

He suggested coming back in a year. I'll probably do it. This kind of thing gives me a goal to shoot for.

V.

Your max heart rate will drop with age, BUT it is somewhat genetically dispositioned. We are all used to the default calculation (220-our age) but there are better ones out there if you are willing to track some measurements like your resting HR (don't get out of bed, right when you wake up, measure your resting HR).

So when you increase your fitness, and get tested, you are not necessarily looking for a higher max HR as a big sign of success, but rather a higher AT (anaerobic threshold). When your AT is higher, you can work at higher levels without going anaerobic.

This is what we all want...as we can only stay anaerobic for a short period of time before maxing out and that lactic acid start to burn in our muscles. When you are beyond AT, your oxygen runs out and your body draws on reserves for fuel.

And, of course, we have all heard it before....our best fat-burning zone is when we are in our aerobic heart ranges. (65-85% of our max). Not that we worry about that right? Yeah, right. :p

Good reads: Sally Edwards: Heart rate Monitor Book
Ed Burke: Precision Heart Rate Training
Phil Maffetone: High Performance Heart
Stu Mittleman: Slow Burn
Each of these authors has more than 1 book out also.

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Originally posted by VenusdeVelo
Your max heart rate will drop with age, BUT it is somewhat .

And, of course, we have all heard it before....our best fat-burning zone is when we are in our aerobic heart ranges. (65-85% of our max). Not that we worry about that right? Yeah, right. :p

Good reads: Sally Edwards: Heart rate Monitor Book
Ed Burke: Precision Heart Rate Training
Phil Maffetone: High Performance Heart
Stu Mittleman: Slow Burn
Each of these authors has more than 1 book out also.

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I got the Sally book from the library... excellent! now I just have to do some sub max testing. I was fascinate by her 5 division of HR zones, and the stated percentages of how much fat you burn in each zone.

Irulan

Another great book -
The Ultimate Ride, by Chris Carmichael (Lance's coach)

Carmichael has gotten away from the heart rate zones and instead uses a recommended heart rate based on a % of your average heart rate in a fitness test for different types of workouts.
The fitness test is a 3 mile time trial, (i think he recommends doing the test twice) ... using your average heart rate during this effort gives you a much better view of your sustainable heart rate rather than a max that might only be maintained for a few seconds during the effort.
A friend of mine has a CompuTrainer that i used to do the fitness test a couple weeks ago, which will also measure watts, but the fitness test itself is do-able with your bike, a 3 mile stretch of road, and your heart rate moniter.
good luck, and happy training! :)