G2 Health offers the latest in athletic assessment technology for both amateur and professional athletes. Testing is performed by medical personnel who are also competitive athletes, including a nurse practitioner/anesthetist and a licensed physical therapist. In our beautiful, private fitness lab, G2 Health staff performs cardiorespiratory fitness testing, resting energy expenditure testing and video motion analysis under the supervision of a medical doctor.

VO2 testing utilizes a cycle ergometer with steadily increasing resistance and a sophisticated gas analyzer to measure oxygen consumption (VO2) during exercise. This is the best measurement of aerobic fitness available, and can be used for evaluation of our wellness clients as well as for serious athletes. It is especially valuable when testing is done periodically over time, to monitor improvement during a fitness training program or to gauge the effectiveness of one’s health regimen. Many useful measurements can be obtained with great accuracy during the test, including:

• VO2 max – the greatest Oxygen Consumption level achieved during the test, usually as a plateau, shortly before exhaustion. Allows you to compare your ability to perform work to that of others of your age, gender or sport as it is expressed relative to your body weight. VO2 max naturally declines with age, but this decrease can be slowed with regular vigorous exercise. Please refer to the tables below for your fitness score. (By way of comparison, Lance Armstrong’s VO2max has been tested at 83.8 ml/kg/min, and Miguel Indurain at 88.0)

MALE – V02 Max Fitness Assessment Criteria: (ml02/kg/min)

AGE	VERY POOR	POOR	FAIR	GOOD	EXCELLENT	SUPERIOR
13-19	0-34.9	35.0-38.3	38.4-45.1	45.2-50.9	51.0-55.9	56.0+
20-29	0-32.9	33.0-36.4	36.5-42.4	42.5-46.4	46.5-52.4	52.5+
30-39	0-31.4	31.5-35.4	35.5-40.9	41.0-44.9	45.0-49.4	49.5+
40-49	0-30.2	30.2-33.5	33.6-38.9	39.0-43.7	43.8-48.0	48.1+
50-59	0-26.0	26.1-30.9	31.0-35.7	35.8-40.9	41.0-45.3	45.4+
60+	0-20.4	20.5-26.0	26.1-32.2	32.3-36.4	36.5-44.2	44.3+

 

FEMALE – V02 Max Fitness Assessment Criteria: (ml02/kg/min)

AGE	VERY POOR	POOR	FAIR	GOOD	EXCELLENT	SUPERIOR
13-19	0-24.9	25.0-30.9	31.0-34.9	35.0-38.9	39.0-41.9	42.0+
20-29	0-23.5	23.6-28.9	29.0-32.9	33.0-36.9	37.0-41.0	41.1+
30-39	0-22.7	22.8-26.9	27.0-31.4	31.5-35.6	35.7-40.0	40.1+
40-49	0-20.9	21.0-24.4	24.5-28.9	29.0-32.8	32.9-36.9	37.0+
50-59	0-20.1	20.2-22.7	22.8-26.9	27.0-31.4	31.5-35.7	35.8+
60+	0-17.4	17.5-20.1	20.2-24.4	24.5-30.2	30.3-31.4	31.5+

• LT – Lactate Threshold, the point at which blood lactate levels increase disproportionately (at a faster rate) to the increasing workload. This can be measured by collecting a drop of blood every 1 to 3 minutes while exercising, or, as in our facility, by measuring the Ventilatory Threshold (VT) and the Respiratory Exchange Ratio (RER or RQ). One goal of exercise training is to increase your LT to a point closer to your VO2max, because performing work above the threshold quickly leads to exhaustion. For example, the LT typically occurs at 50-60% of VO2 max in healthy but untrained individuals, and can be significantly higher in endurance-trained athletes. [This threshold is also somewhat inaccurately called the anaerobic threshold as it roughly corresponds to cells’ conversion from aerobic (fat) to mostly anaerobic (carbohydrate) metabolism.]
  
  
• RQ (Respiratory Quotient) – the ratio of CO2 expired to O2 consumed, which represents the metabolic exchange of these gases in the tissues. Once the body’s cells begin to use predominantly anaerobic metabolism for fuel (past the Ventilatory Threshold), carbon dioxide is produced at a higher rate and this ratio reaches, then exceeds, 1.0. This is used in VO2 testing to determine the LT and can also indicate whether the test subject made a poor, good or excellent effort.
  
  
• % HRR (Heart Rate Reserve) – is an estimation of the potential heart rate increase that remains at the end of a maximal exercise test, and is obtained by subtracting the highest heart rate measured during the test from your predicted maximum heart rate. A high HRR may be the result of terminating the test early due to poor effort, or due to cardiac or pulmonary disease or certain medications (such as beta-blockers). HRR is normally less than 15%. 
  
  
•  METS (Metabolic Equivalent) – is a measurement of work and represents the resting level of oxygen consumption of a healthy man weighing 70kg, which is 3.5mL/kg per minute. Light household activities require an energy expenditure of 1.5 to 4 METS, moderate work requires 3 to 6 METS, and heavy work or high-level sports require 5 to 15 METS. In a VO2 test, a normal subject will achieve a MET level of 7.1 or higher; a lower level indicates some type of impairment. This is measured accurately only through VO2 testing.
  
  
• VE – Minute Ventilation is the volume of air moved in and out of the lungs per minute, measured in liters per minute, and is the product of respiratory rate and the volume of air exhaled with each breath.  Abnormal ventilation is a characteristic of chronic heart disease and pulmonary (lung) disease.
  
  
• O2 Pulse – is the liters of oxygen consumed in a minute divided by the heart rate, and can be viewed as a dynamic measurement of cardiac output. In effect, O2 Pulse is equal to the product of stroke volume (volume of blood pumped out of the heart with each contraction) and the difference between arterial and venous oxygen content. This makes it an excellent predictor of cardiovascular disease. The circulatory adjustments that occur during exercise will increase O2 Pulse, and it is higher at any given workload in a more fit or healthier individual.  A nonathletic normal subject will produce an O2 Pulse greater than 15, while an athlete can achieve an O2 Pulse of 20-40.

Why should athletes have a VO2 test performed?

• It tells you your ability to generate the energy necessary for endurance exercise and your potential as an athlete (with proper training) – you can compare your measurements to those of your teammates/competitors and evaluate your fitness level.
  
  
• You can become a better athlete by gaining a better understanding of the physiology of exercise.
  
  
• You can obtain highly accurate measurements of LT and VO2max, which are the most important numbers used in designing an athletic training program. Increasing intensity of exercise is the most effective way to increase your VO2max, and the target intensity zones for training (especially for interval training) can be determined with your test measurements. This will improve your performance and prevent overtraining. In addition, training programs can be designed to raise your LT and therefore increase your endurance and tolerance to lactic acid. Performance improves because endurance training causes many physiological adaptations to occur, the primary ones being an increase in capillary circulation to working muscles and an increase in the number of energy-producing mitochondria in the muscle cells.
  
  Also of great benefit to competitive cyclists is the measurement of wattage output when utilized in specifically-designed  training programs. Training and racing with a power meter is revolutionizing the sport of cycling, allowing the athlete to fine-tune his or her effort for maximal performance. VO2max training with an on-board power meter is far more sensitive than the use of heart rate or perceived exertion. Your VO2 test can give you exact measurements of your wattage at various % of VO2max.
  
  You will be able to directly apply the numbers you obtain from your VO2 test to your own training program with the guidance of our fitness staff, or by using one of many readily available reference sources. If you hire an athletic coach, he or she will be able to use your VO2 test results instead of relying solely on approximate calculations.
  
  

• You can monitor the effectiveness of a training program by evaluating improvements (or lack thereof) in VO2max and LT.
  
  
• The test may uncover evidence of early or silent cardiorespiratory disease and prompt further medical evaluation.

Why get your VO2 test at G2 Health? Our fitness lab is equipped with the latest fitness testing technology used by NASA, major universities and Olympic testing facilities. Our Lode cycle ergometer is designed for professional athletes and can handle workloads up to 2500 watts! It is fully adjustable in all dimensions and can be set up with your own seat and pedals. It also features an adjustable crank which can be set to match your own bicycle’s current length, appropriate to your body size. The VacuMed gas analyzer and metabolic cart software are accurate to within 3%, and meet the strict criteria of the Australian Institute of Sport Quality Assurance Program (the U.S. does not require or certify quality for this type of equipment!). Prior to each and every test, our staff calibrates the gas analyzer for temperature, humidity and barometric pressure to ensure accuracy. This is extremely important because even small errors in measurements taken during VO2 testing can lead to significant misinterpretation of the results and render them almost useless, a big waste of your time and money!