Just starting, need help interpreting Fitness lab results

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September 27, 2020 at 4:09 am #45437

nathycoulter16
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Hi 🙂
I am just beginning my training journey for mountaineering and after purchasing the fitness plan I went and got my V02 tested along with some blood tests at this local fitness lab close to my house to see where I’m starting from. The test was called a Bruce protocol in inclined treadmill. I have attached a photo of the results if anyone can help me understand them better. To me it reads I have a very low threshold and should look to increase this ? What’s the best way to do this ? Any training I’ve done has been mostly at a heart rate of 130 – 145. Would it be best to do some hill sprint sessions, interval training to improve this threshold ? Along with some training at 120 – 127 bpm ? Below that threshold score to try and bump it up ? How long should it take to increase this threshold where I don’t just go anaerobic quickly. Not sure what the haemoglobin results mean either.

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Posted In: General Training Discussion

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Dada on September 27, 2020 at 6:37 am #45442

Hi Nathan,

Is “AT” anaerobic threshold and “AeT” aerobic threshold?

What were the increments of increasing effort (pace/speed)?

General advice would be to read the books.

Best regards
Dada

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nathycoulter16 on September 27, 2020 at 6:55 am #45445

Yes that’s what I assume. That Aet is aerobic and AT anaerobic ?

As regards to the increments I’m not sure just that it was Bruce protocol.

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nathycoulter16 on September 27, 2020 at 7:11 am #45446

Some more data from it.

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trudyw on September 27, 2020 at 3:44 pm #45458

Hi Nathan

With my dietitian’s hat on, the haematocrit result appears to be within ‘normal’ range. But the units used to describe the haemoglobin result are confusing. The units shown are grams/Litre (g/L) and the result should be in the hundreds not tens (i.e. 159 not 15.9).

Check with the lab to see whether the Hb result is actually in grams/deciLitre (g/dL), not g/L. If in g/dL, the result is within ‘normal’ range. If not, see your doctor immediately.

These form part of lab tests to check for anaemia. A great free and credible consumer site for help in interpreting blood tests in US is https://labtestsonline.org . This site has links to different countries and languages because test abbreviations and measuring units used are not universally standard.

Different labs have different ranges depending on methodology of testing and I assume this was a finger prick test.

Trudy

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nathycoulter16 on September 27, 2020 at 3:52 pm #45459

Yes it was a finger prick test. I’m not sure about the units but the practitioner said the haemogolobin results were higher than he ever normally sees.

Thanks for the info

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Anonymous on September 29, 2020 at 11:05 am #45525

I can think of two possible explanations for these results. But first, can you describe the test format?

– How long did you warm-up before starting the test?
– How many stages was the test?
– How long was each stage?
– How much did the intensity increase per stage?
– How did the intensity increase, by speed or incline?

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nathycoulter16 on September 29, 2020 at 4:22 pm #45546

I basically did very little warm up before the test but my heart rate was high before starting probably from some nerves.

The test was called a Bruce protocol which was Bruce Treadmill Test Stages
Stage 1: 1.7 mph at 10 percent grade?
Stage 2: 2.5 mph at 12 percent grade
Stage 3: 3.4 mph at 14 percent grade
Stage 4: 4.2 mph at 16 percent grade?
Stage 5: 5.0 mph at 18 percent grade
Stage 6: 5.5 mph at 20 percent grade
Stage 7: 6.0 mph at 22 percent grade

Included some more of the data print outs not sure if that helps any.

Basaiclly guessing I’m very aerobiaclly deficient ? But can I pin point the correct heart rates to work at from now on going by these scores ?

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Anonymous on September 30, 2020 at 9:56 am #45574

I was afraid of that. IMO, you can throw the results in the trash.

It’s common with these kinds of max-focused tests done by techs that don’t understand the underlying systems. The system they used, Cardio Coach, is also marketed to fitness centers, etc. which will have less expertise.

The reason your thresholds appear so low is that your aerobic system wasn’t given the time it needs to warm up. It’s a more powerful system, but it needs much more time—IMO at least 20 gradual minutes to get up to the starting test pace—to “get online”. You weren’t given that time, so your body went anaerobic sooner than necessary to fuel the demands of the test.

Also, increasing both speed and incline per stage is ridiculous. Increases in incline are not linear increases in load. So to increase in speed and incline at the same time is just silly.

Unfortunately, this test tells you nothing and the tech should be embarrassed.

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