Fitness Evaluation

Last week I underwent a fitness evaluation at the Peak Fitness Centre on Hastings Street in Burnaby. It is something I had heard about from friends for years but making the decision to ride on the CF ride was the motivation to finally get tested. My training up to now was pretty  much home schooled, that is get in a lot of rides as and ride as fast as you can and read a few articles from time to time.

I won't go into the details, you can read it all on their web site, but basically they hook you up to a trainer on your own bike and after some warm up time, they gradually increase the power in three minute segments while they take blood samples every few minutes to measure your lactic acid buildup. It seems easy at first but within ten minutes the effort becomes very intense. Oh yes, they also hook you up to a breathing apparatus so they can measure your oxygen/carbon dioxide input/output. Georgie, the trainer,  led me through the paces and kept encouraging me to keep the the cadence up. Eventually the lactic acid buildup causes burnout and that is the end of the measurements. I will say my heart rate was at 185 beats per minute when I hit my failure point.

Last Saturday I went back for an evaluation where they make sense out of all the numbers in the report that they had sent a few days earlier. It is all about zones to stay in and others (so called junk zones) that you stay out of. Also how much carbohydrate replacement is required based on your activity level and body mass. Very scientific and a bit bewildering at first. I will make the effort and will probably get retested in April to see if the training effect worked.So if I start muttering about getting into my junk zone 3, you will to give me some slack.

In my evaluation it was mentioned that my numbers showed I was "trained" but not "well trained".

Oh..also there is no fitness discount given for age,