Thanks to trickle-down technology, the everyday fitness faithful can now get performance testing once reserved for elite athletes. Heart Zones is teaming up with New Leaf Health & Fitness Products to provide you with the first Metabolic Report Card that tells you precisely how fit you are.

New Leaf is world renowned for innovation and excellence in metabolic measurement systems. Their patented technology has been used extensively for over 25 years to assist in conditioning for professional, amateur, Olympic athletes, and throughout the Space program. Now you can take their test, learn what you need to know to tune up your training, and not waste one more second in unnecessary activity.

Once a year, Paul Camerer, the 88-year old Sacramento triathlete and franchisor of the free Pinkhouse Garage Gym, pictured here, is taking the "Active Metabolic Test." This test measures Paul’s caloric expenditure and fine-tunes his training zones. Paul wants to ensure that he isn't losing fitness as he gains years.

The metabolic test measures your maximum volume of oxygen consumed (VO2 max). VO2 max gives you an accurate reading of your current engine size, your fitness level. The system measures your threshold—the point where your body shifts between aerobic and non-aerobic exercise, sort of like the red line on a tachometer. Rev beyond that red line, and your engine burns pure carbohydrates and, if you aren’t fit, leaves you gasping on the side of the road. The idea, according to Karen Tusting, a Heart Zones Red Master Trainer is to "nudge the red line up. The whole key is squashing the gap between your threshold and your max."

The New Leaf metabolic cart analyzes your exhaled carbon dioxide and oxygen levels to determine when you hit red line, your threshold. The result is a threshold heart rate number that is as precise as you can get it anywhere in the world. The process isn’t invasive. It’s not hard. And it's amazingly valuable health data for your exercise training.

The rich personal data you get from the metabolic test is displayed in a Metabolic Report Card, expressed in reference to either of the two high- intensity Heart Zones training systems: Maximum or Threshold. Once you or your trainer has the results, then you have a training plan tailored to help you accomplish your goals. Many fitness enthusiasts and personal trainers are held back by a lack of precise knowledge about their own bodies’ functioning. And, that’s just what a metabolic report card shows you.

(Note: If you choose to purchase a New Leaf metabolic cart through Heart Zones USA you receive a $500 discount and a 5% discount on all products. Contact us for sites that offer testing and the Heart Zones Metabolic Report card: staff@heartzones.com )

This is a heart rate-driven workout, with power as the response. Start with an easy warm up at 60% of maximum heart rate. Begin a slow 20-minute uphill by increasing resistance to produce a heart rate increase of 2.5% every two minutes. Watch as your heart rate and power output floats upward in direct relationship to each other. When you hit 80%, take a recovery for five minutes and regroup as you prepare for high, hot, hard intervals. Begin them at minute 25, sprinting to 90% of maximum and holding for a total duration of 2 minutes, before you recover for one minute. Complete three sets of 1 high, hot, hard interval followed by 1-minute active recovery. Cool down. If you can download power and heart rate it should resemble the following profile. And, thanks Kathy Kent for contributing this tough 32-minute experience.

Contributed by Kathy Kent, Heart Zones Red Level 5 Master Trainer.
Note: Please email me any rides that you would like to contribute to our Library of Rides.
You receive full credit for designing and riding them.

We don’t want anyone to waste any more of their valuable training time. The best, most efficient way we know how to get fit is to use a heart rate monitor and train with specific goals. Attend a Heart Zones Seminar, and you, too, will be training smart. Seminars are 3 hours plus a 1-hour workout workshop to test for your maximum heart rate and set your training zones. The advanced training follows with 3 hours of cycling or personal training and coaching to give you the latest information and experience to get a fit heart and body. Join us!

Schedule

March 4, 2007 Princeton, New Jersey
Heart Zones Basic Seminar and Workshop +
Level 1 Blue Jersey Indoor Cycling Certification

March 3-4th, 2007 Sacramento, California
Heart Zones Basic Seminar and Workshop +
Level 1 Personal Training
Level 1 Blue Jersey Indoor Cycling Certification

March 24, 2007 Birmingham, Alabama
Heart Zones Basic Seminar and Workshop +
Level 1 Indoor Cycling Certification

April 20-21st, 2007 Castle Rock, Colorado
Heart Zones Basic Seminar and Workshop +
Level 1 Indoor Cycling Certification

May 19th-20th, 2007 Sacramento, California
Heart Zones Basic Seminar + Workshop
Heart Zones Intermediate Seminar + Fitness Testing Workshop
Level 2 Indoor Cycling Green Jersey Certification
Level 2 Personal Training and Coaching Certification

October 5-7th, 2007 Denver, Colorado
Heart Zones International Conference 2007
All Levels from Basic to Advanced
Level 3 Indoor Cycling Yellow Jersey Certification
Level 3 Personal Training and Coaching Certification

October 13-14th, 2007 Sacramento, CA
Heart Zones Basic Seminar + Workshop
Heart Zones Intermediate Seminar + Fitness Testing Workshop
Level 2 Indoor Cycling Green Jersey Certification
Level 2 Personal Training and Coaching Certification

Register Here!