Athlete 1, male triathlete (runner for decades)
-Since hearing me in mid-January, he adopted the nutrition component of my metabolic efficiency concept and focused mostly on lean protein, healthy fat and fruits/veggies
-He also dropped his intensity of training very low to improve metabolic efficiency
I tested him and what was interesting was that he was extremely metabolically efficient. One of the best I have ever seen in fact. However, what really stood out to me was that after interpreting the results to him afterwards and hearing what he was doing with his training, was that he was actually training at too low of an intensity. He was sandbagging himself by going too slow which would not support improving his performance or fat burning. In fact, his optimal fat burning zone was at more moderate intensity/pace for him than lower intensity*.
*I have been noticing and documenting this fact with more and more testing.
Athlete 2, male fitness exerciser, very fit but does not do a lot of aerobic exercise
-He follows a healthy, well balanced diet consisting of all foods
-His training is normally focused on high intensity, short intervals due to time
I tested him and, as usual, began at very low speeds to try to "find" his metabolic efficiency point (MEP). His MEP happened extremely quickly but interestingly, after he achieved his MEP, he was able to maintain exercise at moderate intensities but he was burning mostly carbohydrates and very little fat.
This happened for a variety of reasons: 1) his exercise program was all interval based and 2) while he was eating healthy, he was off a bit on his macronutrient balance, specifically protein.
He wants to drop some body fat so it was interesting because I told him that he was exercising in way too high of intensities to support optimal fat utilization. Yes, he was burning calories but mostly from carbohydrate and that was not supporting his body fat reduction goals.
His plan moving forward was to add 1-2 short aerobic only (optimal fat burning zone as I identified from his test) exercise sessions per week.
Very exciting results and interpretations from this simple test! I continue to move forward on my metabolic efficiency testing and am proving that it is extremely beneficial to recreational exercisers in addition to athletes.
Stay tuned. This is exciting stuff!
Coach Bob
coachbob@fuel4mance.com
