Exercise is a wonderful thing, except when it doesn't yield the results you had hoped for.  Yes, it's true, we can certainly make an argument for all the healthy things that exercise can do for us, but when it's difficult enough to fit exercise into our busy schedule, we want to make every minute of effort count, right?

Over the last 10 years, research has quietly delivered a significant blow to many of the once, thought-to-be-true, never-to-be questioned exercise principles, particularly when it comes to using exercise to lose body fat and manage your weight.  No longer is it enough "just to be moving" in order to burn stored fat and return to a leaner you.

In fact, purging your fat from storage "just by moving" can be exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, unless you really know how to do it, and now you can thanks to an exclusive metabolic testing procedure using the revolutionary New Leaf Personal Metabolic Testing System.  Although traditionally available only in hospital and university settings, Genesis Personal Fitness is proud to add this advanced active metabolic testing procedure to its menu of services now offered to its clients.

Getting The Test...And What It Does For You

How your body uses oxygen to burn fuel (stored fat or the foods you recently ate) is more critical to weight management/loss than either food or exercise.  That's right, knowing the rate at which your body mixes the oxygen you breath with the "fuel" you're trying to lose to make the energy you need to do things like make your heart pump, drive your car, and exercise is called your Metabolic Rate, and it is as individual as your fingerprint.

At rest, this "burn rate" of your oxygen mixing with your fuel (fat or food) is called your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) and knowing it provides the means in which we can accurately calculate the number of calories per day that your body requires for vital functions and your normal everyday activities.

Under exercise conditions, your burn rate of oxygen, VO2, is an indicator of how well your body is burning calories during a session and whether your exercising with the right intensity so that you burn the type of calories you want to burn, namely body fat if you're trying to lose weight with more predictability and get as lean as possible.

Knowing these two burn rates or "metabolic rates", a "metabolic profile" can be created about you that gives us and you accurate information on how to feed and exercise your body smarter, enhancing your weight loss and yielding faster results.

To fully understand what's going on with your metabolism, two tests are necessary:  a Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) Assessment and an Exercise Metabolic Response Assessment (VO2).

From the results of these two tests, here's a look at the benefits you get from each assessment:

Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) Assessment - From this assessment, you learn...

1. How much food you can consume without gaining weight.
2. What amount of food is required to lose weight.
3. Your unique personal metabolic requirements or "metabolic fingerprint".
4. How many calories from exercise should be included in your weight loss and weight management program.
5. How to increase your "burn rate" of the calories you eat so they don't end up getting stored as body fat.

Exercise Metabolic Response (VO2) Assessment - From this assessment, you learn...

1. Your unique response to exercise and individual fitness level.
2. How many calories you burn from fat compared to sugar (carbohydrates) when you exercise.
3. The correct exercise intensity levels to increase the burn of your stored body fat and keep the muscle, while losing weight and inches with more predictability.
4. The specific heart rate "zones" that are unique to you that will enable you to train your muscles to better "fat burners" and make weight loss a whole lot easier.

The assessment procedure is similar to an auto emissions test done on your car.  Since oxygen is required to burn the primary fuel (gasoline) in your car, likewise oxygen is required to burn the primary fuels (fat and sugar) in your body.  By measuring the gases that come out of your car's exhaust, your mechanic can tell how efficient your car's engine is operating. 

Similarly, the gas content of your breath reflects the efficiency or inefficiency with which your body directly uses body fat for fuel, both at rest and during exercise.

Each of the tests take 30 minutes to complete and require a special Assessment Kit that includes all the components for both tests, including a Heart Rate Monitor Transmitter Strap that you'll use when you exercise to keep in your Fat-Burning Heart Rate Zones for maximizing weight loss.

The Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) Assessment should be done in the early morning whenever possible since you must fast for 8-12 hours beforehand to truly find out how your body is using your body fat for fuel at rest.  The Exercise Metabolic Response (VO2) Assessment, on the other hand, can be done anytime throughout the day with only a 3-hour fast prior to the test.

Finally, you not only receive a printed report with your test results explained, but you also have a face-to-face 30-minute Follow-Up Consultation with our Director Of Exercise Programming who will outline the specific techniques you will use here at Genesis to burn more body fat, keep the muscle, and reach your goals faster.