The science behind metabolic testing

Sean Kinane from Health Matters talked JOE through the details of a metabolic test and how it can dramatically improve your approach to weight management.

The words ‘fitness’ and ‘test’ are enough to send a shiver down the spine at any time, but surely having your aerobic capabilities tested three days before Christmas – when training has been very much put on the back burner and the ‘off-season’ is in full swing – wasn’t such a good idea.

At least that's was what I thought I was letting myself in for last month. I had been issued with the instructions to meet Sean Kinane of Health Matters at the Westpark Fitness in Tallaght, where I was told by my unsympathetic editor that I would be undergoing a ‘fitness test’.

Figuring that I would become horrified if I pressed for any further details, I sheepishly turned up with my gear bag, having followed the instructions of no food, caffeine or stimulants for four hours. I then met Sean at the gym, presuming he was going to make me run until I couldn’t stand up and tut condescendingly at my poor condition.

The success I had with my clients came about because I could train them based on their results, working directly with them in the gym and getting massive results.

Thankfully, however, I was spared such humiliation - at least for a few weeks. The torture was to come later. For now, all I had to do was sit down and breathe for 15 minutes into a machine while I put my feet up and read the paper. This was my ‘metabolic test’ and more like the pre-festive activity I had in mind.

The machine in question was able to gauge how effective my metabolic system was, how it affected my weight management and how I can adjust my diet accordingly so I could harness it to greater effect. Sean’s machine is one of a kind in this country.

He first came across it as a personal trainer in Australia and was able to have it shipped across from America when he returned to Ireland and set up Health Matters last year. There are similar machines in Ireland and Europe, but none have the level of accuracy that Sean’s has.

“The nearest place that has a machine like this one is in Luxembourg,” Sean told JOE recently.

“There’s a gym in Ireland that has a similar machine from a different brand, but my equipment is 98 per cent accurate. My machine will give you a calorie imbalance of 40 calories plus or minus whereas the nearest brand is 1000 calories plus or minus, which is quite a sizeable gap.”

For those of you interested in the nitty gritty, the test gauges a person’s resting metabolic rate (rmr) by calculating the amount of oxygen a person consumes per day in millilitres per kilo weight of body per minute.

In turn, Sean can determine your exact calorie expenditure, identify areas where you are going wrong and how many calories you need to eat per day to lose weight.

Armed with this information, you will have the ability to eat exactly to your own metabolism so you can lose weight, increase energy levels andimprove your well being and will be aided by meal plans provided by a consultant dietician to suit your individual needs.

You will also be taught about training methods that suit your unique metabolism, ways to boost your metabolism and what slows it down. It’s all about specifics for each person and what suits them individually.

Unique results for a personal test

The metabolic test is a very personal test. Sean doesn’t deal in averages because they simply don’t work; no two people are the same.

Sean was first turned on to the equipment when he did the test himself in Australia and achieved brilliant personal results. He subsequently carried it out on a number of his clients and met with similar success.

“I started identifying where they were going wrong and how to put them right,” Sean says.

“The success I had with my clients came about because I could train them based on their results, working directly with them in the gym, and I got massive results.”

The test is primarily for people who want to achieve weight loss, but it can also be utilised by people who want to maintain or increase their weight through a healthier approach.

The one thing Sean insists on is following the rules. Anyone taking the test cannot have exercised on the day, has to fast for four hours beforehand and cannot drink anything but water in that time period. Stimulants such as coffee or energy drinks are strictly forbidden.

“If you’re not fasting, the results will be through the roof,” Sean says.

“I had a can of Red Bull immediately prior to one test to check it out and the results were off the charts because it’s such a stimulant. There needs to be total rest. I’ve had people who have come in and you can tell by their results they have cheated; they’re way off.

“Eventually you’ll get it out of them that they didn’t follow the rules, but they’re only kidding themselves and wasting their own and everyone’s time.”

My own test out of the way, Sean informed me that my metabolism was 12 per cent above normal for my height and weight and suddenly I didn’t feel so bad about the impending binge over the Christmas.

The same couldn’t be said, however, for strapping myself into a treadmill and running until I dropped for the V02 fitness test. More on that one later.