Training - How’s It Going?
In July I undertook some testing to see how things were getting on - metabolic and VO2 max testing. Previously this type of testing was the preserve of sports people and athletes but they are now extensively available to the ordinary person who just happens to have an interest in their body and getting fit.
Metabolic testing gives you great insights into how many calories you really consume whilst resting and also gives you a marker as to how fast or slow your metabolism runs. Great information if you are trying to lose weight or need to know how much calories you need to consume to fuel your lifestyle.
So, when I learned that my resting energy expenditure was 2424 calories and based on my level of activity and exercise I needed to add another 1500 calories onto that, resulting in an expenditure of almost 4000 calories per day, I was quite shocked! No wonder fatigue was an issue for me - I consumed nowhere near that! This insight enabled me to develop a proper fuelling plan and whilst I still don't consume 4000 calories per day, with the changes I made I definitely feel less fatigued, have more energy and have bulked up with additional muscle. As it turns out, on the back of this it is no surprise that I have a very fast metabolism - over 40% higher than the norm for my age, sex, weight and height.
Metabolic testing has you wearing an over the mouth and nose mask whilst connected to some contraption as you sit peacefully in a chair for 20 minutes or so, VO2 testing requires expenditure of energy either on a treadmill or a bike or a rowing machine also with a mask. Once you get over the slight claustrophobic experience, it really does not impinge your breathing in any way.
VO2 is a measurement of the maximum amount of oxygen your body can utilise during exercise - I’ll post again on the science behind it and metabolic testing, but basically the higher the number the better. For the VO2 testing I chose the treadmill as I am pretty well used to running on one. Once hooked up, everything starts pretty sedately, walking at 4, 5 and 6 kms an hours. Over time both the speed and incline are increased and the operator checks constantly with you as to how you are feeling and are you ok to continue. At some point you will have had enough and on this test I stopped around 14 minutes in on a speed of 14mph and an incline of 6. I was initially pretty chuffed with my results - VO2 max of 45.3 which put me in the excellent zone for my age, sex, etc. However, Sean, the facilitator brought me back down to earth .. yes, it was good, but my zone 2 range, between 99bpm and 127 bpm, really needed to improve. So my homework was to reduce my HIIT training to a max of 3 sessions per week and introduce zone 2 training 3 times per week .. just jog for 30-40 minutes 3 times per week maintaining my heart rate between 99 bpm and 127 bpm. If I did that, in 12 weeks time or so, Sean predicted that there would be a significant uplift in my zone 2 range and I would be a lot stronger in all my training and best placed fitness wise for my trip to Nepal.
Challenge accepted and diligently for the next 12 weeks or so I went down to 3 HIIT Classes per week and took up jogging at a slow pace either in the gym on a treadmill or on the local running track. Running in zone 2 is all about building endurance and increasing your heart's stroke volume - in a strange way it's actually challenging to run that slow! Anyway, moving on, 12 weeks later I returned to Sean for a VO2 test follow-up and lo and behold there was a massive improvement - my VO2 max figure increased to 48.2 and I was now in the superior category and my zone 2 range had a massive increase to 133 bpm to 149 bpm. As my max heart-rate is 160, this means for me that most of the training I do is now zone 2 and zone 2 is where you have ample fuel to undertake activities for a long time as body fat is the main source of energy rather than just glucose.
To be honest, I had noticed a considerable uplift in my performance at HIIT after a few weeks of zone 2 training and in the mountains too, I felt stronger. Now the plan is to push on some more - keep up zone 2 running but now at a faster pace with an increased heart rate. Hopefully, this will stand well to me in the low oxygen environment in Nepal's mountains in a few weeks. The next 2 months will tell!
