Metabolic testing for athletes and wellness with COSMED K5 at Avera Human Performance Center
Derek Ferley, Avera Sport Science and Research Director, explains how a metabolic assessment with COSMED K5 can help people customize their own health and training plans.
When it comes to health and fitness, we all need something different. What works for one person may not work for others.
People respond very quickly to certain types of training, other people don’t respond at all, other people take a much longer time to respond to training. As long as you’re testing periodically, then you’ll be able to assess whether or not the efforts of your training program are having the desired effect,” said Ferley.
One example of how the information can be used is to figure out how to properly fuel your body for exercise. “So we can actually determine or see whether or not you’re burning more fat or burning more carbohydrates during the test,” said Ferley.
The data can also be used to help folks create optimal wellness or weight-loss routine.
“There’s a lot of things that, you know, affect our metabolism, your weight, your age, your body composition, your hormones. So it’s not just an easy number of ‘Hey you’re 5’6, 150 pounds, you need 12,000 calories.’ It’s not like that at all. Our bodies are all very different,” said Anna Heronimus, Avera Sports Registered Dietician.
Heronimus has clients wear the equipment while relaxing. Then she tests how much the body burns at rest. “So I’m able to take this and also kind of help with, you know, where the calories are at, where their macros are at, where their carbs, protein, fat, how much they need per day,” said Heronimus.
The goal is to get clients away from restricting calories. “We kind of work with trying to get the metabolism up a lot faster so we can have them eating more and enjoying. So they aren’t in that starvation mode or they aren’t feeling low on energy,” said Heronimus.
[ Video credits: dakotanewsnow.com ]
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