Sports Testing & Weight Management

• VO2max Exercise Testing
• Resting Metabolic Rate testing
• Cardiovascular health assessment

Do you have any idea how fit you really are? How healthy you really are? Do you know what your fat burn zone is? How many calories you should eat? Do you really have a slow metabolism? How much progress have you really made in the last 3 months?

VO2_max is the gold standard measurement of cardiovascular (CV) health and endurance fitness, used by athletes such as Paula Radcliffe and Lance Armstrong to define their fitness, formulate race nutrition and set training programmes. Whether you are interested in your health, general CV fitness, sport performance, or calorific needs; whether you run, cycle, row or cross-train, you can have your fitness measured and compared to normal and athletic values with this test, here at Drummond Clinic.

Cardiovascular fitness, aerobic endurance or aerobic power is the ability to perform large muscle, dynamic, moderate and high intensity exercise for long periods of time. The more oxygen you can consume, deliver and utilise, the higher your aerobic capacity (endurance).  CV Fitness depends on how well your respiratory, cardiovascular and skeletal muscles work together to deliver and use oxygen. You can have your VO2_max measured during a flat out effort or predicted from your individual oxygen response at lower intensities. The best way to measure VO2_max is with a treadmill – even if you don’t like to run – but bikes, cross-trainers, rowing machines etc. can all be used if preferred. Even a step-test can be used if you do not wish to be pushed hard. The test involves about 10 minutes of exercise, building from what you would call very easy to the point where you choose to stop, while we analyse the oxygen you use with a high performance gas analyser.

A second measurement of aerobic fitness is the Anaerobic Threshold (AT). This can be measured without a flat-out effort and will improve as you lose weight and get fitter. It is only possible with a VO2 exercise test.

For nutrition, we know that anything that burns - including calories – requires oxygen. Everyone uses the same amount of oxygen to burn a calorie – even though we all burn different amounts of calories. By measuring the oxygen you use, the calories you burn can be calculated. We can relate your oxygen and calorie consumption to heart rate for the calorific solution to endurance racing.

Do you pay attention to your risk of heart disease? Are you considering health insurance? Your risks of cardiovascular problems in the future can be determined here at Drummond Clinic with a few simple assessments of your cholesterol, glucose tolerance, smoking habits, family history and personal history of heart disease. Resting heart rate, blood pressure and hip/waist and BMI measures complete the picture. Optionally, you can choose to have a VO2_max exercise test, offered by most private health companies for up to £500 per test (e.g. The London Clinic, Harley St). This test uniquely analyses the heart and lungs under stress and has been medically proven to be the most important assessment of cardiovascular health available to the medical profession. *Read more about Drummond health assessment.

*Your health assessment provides useful information for us, your personal fitness professional or your doctor to tailor and individualise lifestyle, activity and exercise prescriptions. Regular physical activity decreases your cardiovascular risk and improves your health and wellbeing, even if you do not feel capable of ‘proper’ exercise. Our comprehensive health assessment may enable you to make choices about health cover in the future or assist your doctor in managing your health. Please note we cannot provide diagnostic information about your current health but this information is medically useful in determining your risks of problems.

This fitness assessment builds on the VO2_max test with a number of important, practical tests to assess further elements of your physical fitness, including muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility and percentage body fat. Resting heart rate, blood pressure and hip/waist and BMI measures complete the picture. These parameters are used by fitness professionals to monitor your progress and to make adjustments to your fitness programme.  Combining the VO2_max test with our general fitness assessment will provide many results with normal acceptable results for you and enable us to set you specific goals for reaching or exceeding normal levels of fitness. *Read more about Drummond general fitness assessment.

Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) is the amount of calories burned at rest each day to maintain your vital body functions and supply you with the calories you need simply to maintain your weight.  RMR accounts for around 80% of your daily calorie intake if you are quite inactive and clinicians agree is fundamental to develop an accurate individual weight management programme. Your total energy expenditure depends upon RMR, your level of physical activity and the exercise you do.

*Understanding RMR is vital to develop a successful, long term plan of weight loss.  The RMR test consists of having you seated on a chair or lying on a down on a couch, relaxed and breathing normally for about 15 minutes. Anything that burns - including calories - requires oxygen,. Everyone uses the same amount of oxygen to burn a calorie – even though we all burn different amounts of calories. By measuring the oxygen you use, the calories you burn can be calculated.

With more of us taking part in a whole variety of endurance sports and activities (running, cycling, triathlon, rowing etc) and striving to make our training goals as SMART (Specific, Manageable, Achievable, Realistic & Timed) as possible. One of the most important factors of a structured training programme is to train – and race – at the correct intensity.  Forget about using predicted heart rate for guessing how hard to work - now you too can reap the huge rewards of setting these specific training and racing zones from VO2 and anaerobic threshold data, whether just for health, general fitness or elite athletic performance. *Read more about Drummond sports assessment

*Most people have to rely on general formulae to predict their personal physiology. Often 220-Age is used to estimate maximum heart rate (MHR). This usually underestimates maximal heart rate and training zones because anyone offering this advice must be wary of encouraging people to over exercise. Consequently, anyone following this advice wastes a lot of time.  Individual heart rate responses vary tremendously, just like resting heart rate, even among people of the same age.  Moreover, percentage zones of true MHR are accurately set using the VO₂ data from your Drummond test, not simply from the HR response.

Furthermore, when using heart rate monitoring, it is of major benefit to establish training zones based around your Lactate or Anaerobic Threshold (LT or AT). Thresholds can only be accurately determined from a VO2_max exercise test and provide you with physiological information to train, perform and race to your highest potential.

We offer the following services:

V02 Testing (Max test identifies Lactate Threshold)

Body Composition Testing

Resting Metabolic Rate Testing

Cholesterol Testing

V02 Testing is set up for the following sports:

• Running
• Cycling
• Triathlon (Multi-Test: Run/Bike)
• Rowing

If you are interested in knowing more about these new services please feel free to go to the contact page and email us your enquiry

Historically this type of testing has been centered around elite sport - we are now opening it up to you by offering a structured discount scheme for those wishing to have regular testing.  Here goes:

Single Sport VO2 Test - Saving £67.50

Test 1 - 100% of full price

Test 2 - 85% of full price

Test 3 - 70% of full price

Triathlon VO2 Test (run & bike) - Saving £112.50

Test 1 - 100% of full price

Test 2 - 85% of full price

Test 3 - 70% of full price

---