After reading Training for the Uphill Athlete and seeing this post, I contacted realrehab about getting a metabolic efficiency test done and mentioned that I’m hoping to find out my aerobic and anaerobic threshold. I received the following response, and was wondering if you could weigh in on it:

“The basic test package is what I generally recommend for endurance athletes. However, I want to clarify a few things about the test data/results to make sure this is what you are looking for. In general, the testing is focused on the metabolic efficiency point and not drawing specific information about the aerobic and anaerobic thresholds or setting specific training zones. However, based upon your test results, I can provide you with a rough estimate of these thresholds as well as some training guidelines to improve your metabolic efficiency and flexibility.

The metabolic efficiency test is a submaximal incremental test to establish efficiency at utilizing fat and carbohydrates for energy during activity, your ability to sustain activity over time and your ability to attain and recover from hard efforts. Depending on the parameters we set for the test and your goals, we can push the intensity to get you close to a relative anaerobic threshold. The tests look at your respiratory exchange ratio (RER) and an RER of 0.7 indicates 100% fat burning, an RER of 1.0 indicates 100% carbohydrate utilization and an RER of 0.85 indicates 50/50. An RER of 1.0 is roughly equivalent to your anaerobic threshold. Some reports suggest that the RER of .85 is fairly close to the aerobic threshold.”

Does this test sound like it will provide the information I’m looking for?