To start off the year 2024, I got VO2 Max, BodPod, and Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) testing.

Why did I do this? A few reasons:

1. I wanted to get a baseline of my overall physical fitness
2. I wanted to set attainable but difficult goals for 2024 based on that data
3. I wanted to know what I could do to achieve my goals

It did all of these things (and more!) and I'm very glad I got the testing done.

For each of these tests, I am going to share with you the following:

1. What was the testing like for me?
2. What does the test measure?
3. Why is this test important?
4. What were my actual results?

(If you want to watch the video of my experience, you can do so here on the Core Sapien YouTube channel.)

VO2 Max Testing

What was VO2 max testing like for me?

VO2 max testing needs to be done with specialty equipment and monitored by a professional. It isn't something you can just do at home.

My test went as follows:

1. Equipment Setup: I was fitted with a mask connected to a machine that measures oxygen and carbon dioxide levels. This setup is known as a metabolic cart. Additionally, a heart rate monitor was put around my chest.
2. Baseline Measurements: Before starting the test, baseline measurements of my heart rate and breathing were taken while I was at rest.
3. Graded Exercise: The test starts off at a light walk on a treadmill but then slowly increases in difficulty with increased speed and increased incline. The first 5 minutes were very easy, minutes 5 through 9 were like a normal workout, and minutes 9 through 12 became very difficult. The person running the test was consistently checking in with me to know where I was at.
4. Maximal Effort: The purpose of the test is to drive you to exhaustion where you cannot continue anymore. For me, I reached this point a little past the 12 minute mark and I had to straddle the sides of the treadmill while trying to catch my breath.
5. Recovery Monitoring: After the test, they continued to monitor my vitals to look at my recovery rate post exercise (this is great data to have).

Overall, it was a very difficult test. Though it was only 12 minutes, it felt like a full workout to me.

What does VO2 max testing measure?

VO2 max testing assesses the amount of oxygen consumed at peak exercise. This is expressed as ml O2/kg/min and the highest amount of oxygen consumed during the test is taken as the VO2 max. It's typically reached when oxygen consumption remains steady despite an increase in exercise intensity.

Throughout the test, this data is collected through the mask and metabolic cart by measuring the amount of oxygen being pulled in and the amount of carbon dioxide being pushed out.

In addition, your heart rate is usually monitored as well to better understand your training zones (more on that in the next section).

Why is VO2 max testing important?

VO2 max testing is important for two reasons:

1. Cardiovascular Fitness: Your VO2 max is one of the best measures of your cardiovascular fitness. The more oxygen your body is able to consume during peak exercise, the more energy you are able to output to increase performance (i.e., speed, strength, endurance).
2. Target Training Zones: Your VO2 max in combination with your heart rate data can help calculate your low, medium, high, and peak training zones. Zone training is one of the best things you can do to improve your VO2 max.

Because cardiovascular health is so important for longevity and just feeling good in general, it is a valuable test to get done.

What were my VO2 max results?

My peak oxygen consumption was measured at 50.0 ml O2/kg/min.

You might see VO2 max quoted in other ways, but this is the most standard as it baselines your consumption against your body weight (that's the 'kg' piece), which only makes sense.

However, VO2 max isn't entirely comparable from person to person. Your sex and age makes a big difference. Check out this article with charts specific to sex and age to be able to better contextualize your VO2 max results.

According to the chart, I'm a bit above average given my sex and age. I'm glad to see this as I thought I'd be a lot worse given more poor running abilities!

An additional piece of data they were able to give me is my recovery rate. As mentioned, they continued to monitor my vitals afterwards. They found that my heart rate recovered 32% to the baseline after 1 minute and 58% after 2 minutes, which is above average.

BodPod Testing (Body Composition Testing)

What was BodPod testing like for me?

The BodPod testing was the easiest of the three tests I did as it did not require any work on my part, aside from the prep work.

My test went as follows:

1. Prep Work: I couldn't drink water or eat for 2 hours before testing. Since my test was early in the morning, this meant that I had to go in pretty much fasting. This is to prevent water weight and food weight from knocking off the results.
2. Calibration: The BodPod devise had to be calibrated several times to get an accurate measure of the total volume of air inside before I entered.
3. Weight Measurement: I had to step on a scale to get my weight taken. This is a key part of being able to calculate my average body density.
4. Strip Down: Because the BodPod is measuring the air displaced by your body, you need to strip down to tight fitting underwear and put on a hair cap so they don't interfere with the results.
5. Step In: Once sitting in the BodPod, the test lasts about 5 minutes in total with two intervals. I wasn't supposed to move during the test.

What does the BodPod measure?

The BodPod assesses the average density of your body. It does this by measuring the amount of air your body displaces (the volume of your body) compared to your weight.

Because every tissue type has a different density, knowing your average body density is able to provide a fairly accurate prediction of your body fat percentage.

It's important to note that the BodPod only tells you the percentage of your total weight that comes from fat and fat-free mass. The fat-free mass includes muscle, organs, skin, and water. Really, everything that just isn't fat.

So, that means that the BodPod does not tell you your muscle mass percentage directly. However, knowing your body fat percentage can still be a pretty good proxy as the only two tissue types that really fluctuate over time are fat and muscle.

Why is BodPod testing important?

Understanding your body composition is key for optimizing your health for longevity.

Excess fat leads to a number of diseases that cause early and miserable deaths, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes.

On the other hand, having high and healthy levels of muscle mass can not only prevent these diseases, it can also help you live independently outside of a care home for the last decade of your life. In fact, muscle mass is the number one determiner of whether you end up in a care home.

So if you're about to go on any diet or body recomposition workout regimen with the goal of losing fat and/or gaining muscle, understanding your baseline will help you know if you're actually improving in the ways you expected.

What were my BodPod test results?

I was able to find out that my body fat percentage is 18.9%.

This was a little higher than I would have guessed since I'm a pretty skinny guy, but according to their chart it still puts me in the upper end of the "moderately lean" category.

It also have me my total body volume of 76 liters, average body density of 1.0557 kg/L, and thoracic gas volume of 2.25 liters, but I don't really have any use for these numbers.

Resting Metabolic Rate Testing (RMR Testing)

What was RMR testing like for me?

RMR testing isn't very complicated, though it ended up being pretty difficult for me. It entailed the following:

1. Prep Work: Prep work was pretty easy since it just required that I hadn't worked out 12 hours prior to the test. They want to see the results at true rest, and exercise can elevate your heart rate for many hours afterwards.
2. Setup: Because RMR testing measures your breathing rate, you need to put on a nose clip and stick a breathing tube in your mouth.
3. Sit Still: The test requires that you sit as still as you can and breath at what feels to be a normal rate for you. It normally takes only 10 minutes for the test to be done, but for whatever reason the machine needed me to sit for a full 20 minutes to be able to generate the results.

The test was more difficult than you might think. First, the nose clip was pretty uncomfortable. Second, breathing through your mouth over and over again makes it really dry. And third, sitting still for so long is hard for an ADHD guy like myself.

What does RMR testing measure?

Resting metabolic rate (RMR) testing assesses how fast your metabolism is running while at rest. It does this by measuring your breathing rate which acts as a good proxy of how fast your metabolism is running (and how many calories you are burning) since metabolic processes require oxygen.

Your breathing rate is then baselined to people of your same age, sex, and weight to let you know where you fall compared to the average.

Why is RMR testing important?

Your resting metabolic rate plays an outsized role in weight loss or gain. In fact, about 2/3 of the calories you burn in any day comes from simply resting! That includes watching TV, working at a desk, and even sleeping.

Since you cannot change your resting metabolic rate (unless you have a hormone imbalance that you need fixed), it might seem like a pretty useless measure.

But here's the catch. It doesn't simply report what your breathing rate is compared to average, it estimates how many calories you will be burning each day during rest, light activity, and working out. It then tells you how many calories you should be eating each day to lose, maintain, or gain weight.

If you're about to begin any diet, this data is going to be super valuable! In fact, with my goal of losing body fat and gaining muscle mass while staying the same weight, I found that I was under-eating by about 300 calories each day.

What were my RMR test results?

I found that my breathing rate while resting is about 6.6 breaths per minute. This means I have a resting metabolic rate that is 9% higher than the average for my sex, age, and weight.

With this, they were able to predict that I burn 2160 calories each day while resting, 648 while performing normal activities around the house, and 225 calories from a moderate 30 minute workout.

Since I do workout at least 30 minutes each day, that means I have a total energy output of 3033 calories per day.

This was higher than I expected. I thought my total energy output was closer to 2400 given the information I get from my WHOOP band. As such, I adjusted my diet to eat more calories while still maintaining a slight caloric deficit.

Conclusion

This data was super helpful to get as I set health-related goals for 2024.

Specifically, I now have a goal of getting my VO2 max to 53.0 and getting my body fat percentage down to 12% by the end of the year.

On top of that, I now have additional data to help me actually achieve those goals, including workout zones tailored to my body as well as understanding my calorie budget.

I highly encourage you to get this testing done and I hope you have a great 2024!