Athletes in Colorado have been searching for a better way to train in high elevations forever. The fitness center at Arapahoe Community College is offering maximal oxygen uptake testing or, V02 MAX, which refers to the volume of oxygen you can utilize during exercise. V02 max is commonly used to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP) by consuming as much oxygen as possible during exercise. Improving this score will ultimately help your muscles react to intense training sessions, which allows you to train harder with less oxygen. 

The test usually takes 10-20 minutes and is used on either a treadmill or a stationary bike. Before the test begins, you’ll be fitted with a face mask attached to a machine that will analyze your respiratory rate and volume alongside the concentration of oxygen and carbon dioxide. A heart strap will be worn around your chest to measure heart rate. 

The fitness center is also offering Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) testing which tells you precisely how many calories your body burns all day just to stay alive. Calorie burning is up to the individual and how much activity they do on a day to day basis. If you burn more energy than your body absorbs, you will lose weight. When you eat, the food is either burned as energy or stored as fat. The trick is balancing the calories you eat with the energy needs of your metabolism. Doing the RMR testing will tell you how many calories you need to intake in order to gain weight, lose weight, or maintain the weight you’re at. 

Shawn Lechuga, an ACC Fitness Instructor, trained on the machines in summer of 2018 and is trying to raise awareness to students and staff that ACC has these resources. He says, “RMR is a good start to lifting, because you can never out train a bad diet.” RMR will give people accountability because if they know the amount of calories they need, they will look more closely at the labels on their food. Food described as Fat Free or Sugar Free generally use more chemicals to replace the flavor you get from fat or sugar.  He goes on to say that, “You are what you eat. Putting nutrition and exercise together is vital.”