“I want to be fit & healthy”

This is a common goal for people starting training, but what does that really mean and how do you know when you have achieved these goals? Are you fit when you can run a certain distance or lift a particular weight? Are you healthy if you get less sick? Fit and healthy means different things to different people, but the research scientists will tell you there is more you should know about health and fitness…

Measuring Fitness

Physical fitness is known to be important for good health. The most precise measure of overall cardiovascular fitness is Maximal Oxygen Uptake (VO2max*), which is the maximal amount of oxygen that your body is capable of using to produce energy. Every cell in your body needs oxygen to continue all processes to keep you alive. You can think of VO2max being a sum of how well your lungs breath in oxygen, how well the oxygen is transferred into your blood stream, how effective your heart is at pumping the blood, how good your blood vessels are at transferring the blood and how well the tissues are at using the oxygen to produce energy. The most accurate measurements are done with high level equipment measuring your breathing while attending a graded exercise test to exhaustion (photo from testing at Physiologic, Robina).

*This article uses VO2max and VO2peak interchangeably to simplify the topic.

Improve Fitness – Reduce Risk of Chronic Disease

Studies show that the higher VO2max the lower your risk of developing chronic disease and vise versa, the lower VO2max the higher is your risk.

People with high cardiorespiratory fitness have:

- Reduced risk of cancer

- Reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes

- Reduced risks of heart attacks

- Lower levels of inflammation in their body

- Less headaches

- Lower risk of depression and anxiety

- Reduced risk of developing metabolic syndrome

- 40-50% reduced risk of getting dementia

The above research findings are from the Cardiac Exercise Research Group at NTNU. You can find more information here. More articles are also listed here

What researchers say about the importance of the assessment 

“Despite that PeakVO2 is a strong predictor of future health and mortality, it is not routinely measured in clinical practice. The reason for this is simply due to the costly and time-consuming procedure of exercise testing that requires trained personnel and expensive equipment. Based upon all the evidence, Peak VO2 should in my view be regarded as a vital sign on line with blood pressure, cholesterol, obesity etc. Low fitness as a risk factor has the power of the risk of blood pressure, smoking and high blood pressure combined. I realised 10 years ago that it would take a long time before fitness can be measured objectively at a GP’s office.”   - Professor & head of CERG Ulrik Wisløff

Our mission is to make this assessment available to everyone

Choosing to live a healthy and active lifestyle is the best insurance you can have against chronic disease.

We feel strongly that this assessment should be available in medical clinics around the world to help people learn more about their health and fitness and to help them take the appropriate steps to improve their health. We are commited to provide this service for everyone using gold standard equipment and skilled personnel. Our passion is to arm people with the knowledge they need to make the best health decisions for them.

Want to learn more?

Contact Us 

More about Metabolism Analysis

The post How Healthy Are You? appeared first on Jupiter Health.

“I hated the way I looked. I hated the way I felt. Most of all I hated what people saw when they looked at me. I was constantly tired and incredibly grumpy.”

I have always struggled with my weight with my ideal being around 63kgs (I’m 5ft 6). Through various activities, including the somewhat dubious, I’d managed to keep my upper weight threshold to around 73kg. At the age of 43, I was successfully treated for breast cancer. I underwent 5 surgeries in 8 months, however my weight then ballooned up to 92 kgs. I battled to shed these excess kilos. The only thing that seemed to have any impact, albeit temporary, was strict calorie control and fasting. I would try to fast at least once a week and managed to lose 4.5 kilos with a 10 day water only fast (I don’t recommend this for the feint-hearted). I tried medically prescribed appetite suppressants as these had worked really well for me in the past.  But no matter what I tried (including 4 years of therapy) I couldn’t regain my pre cancer weight. About 5 years after the cancer I then started going through menopause and was plagued with insomnia and hot flushes, or in my case ‘flashes’ as they came and went quickly. Because of the cancer HRT wasn’t an option. My new set point for my weight was around 86 kilos. I hated it. I hated the way I looked. I hated the way I felt. Most of all I hated what people saw when they looked at me. I was constantly tired and incredibly grumpy.

“One GP I saw said ‘maybe you just need to accept that this is the size you’re always going to be.’  I cried all the way home and never went back to that clinic.”

Everyone was full of suggestions as to what I should do re exercise and diet. I would often see the look of disbelief on people’s faces when I talked about my diet and exercise. ‘Are you sure your working as hard as you think?’ ‘Do you check your heart rate?’ ‘Maybe you need to do more?’, ‘Do you check your portions size?’, ‘Have you tried…’ I felt stupid, embarrassed and ashamed whenever the topic of my weight came up. Even my partner would say ‘I can’t understand why you’re as big as you are given what you eat’..he was constantly telling me ‘you need to eat more.’ All of this left me dispirited and downhearted.

My weight was impacting every area of my life especially my relationship and self-confidence. The thought that I could never lose the excess kilos was too depressing to accept. As loathe as I was to have to go under the knife again, I explored the option of bariatric surgery. Apparently, however, I wasn’t quite fat enough for that, yet. The surgeon recommended I come back once I’d put on another 5kg.

Eventually a dietician recommended that we get my metabolism tested. She sent me off to see the guys at Jupiter Health. I was really surprised as despite all my research into weight loss, I didn’t know such a test existed. I was fascinated by the whole process. On the day we did my first resting test, they ran the test for an extended period of time as my results didn’t look quite right. My fat burning was incredibly low. Mark asked me if I had ever been diagnosed with chronic fatigue. He even redid the test on another day just to confirm the results.

“When I received the report, even though my results were well below the norm, I was really happy. At last I had an explanation for why I had struggled for so long. I wasn’t stupid, lazy or a liar.”

I also had a game plan for the way forward. Mark warned me that it would take time to see improvement. He also strongly advised me against restricting my caloric intake and fasting. Although I didn’t tell him, I continued to do this for the next year as I couldn’t accept that my weight wouldn’t spiral out of control once I started eating more.

“Eighteen months on my weight is now down to a manageable level at 74kgs.”

For the first 12 months working with Mark I did less exercise than I was doing beforehand. Now I’m no longer exhausted after exercise and I can enjoy it more.  I don’t know how to describe the difference in my energy levels and the way I feel. I think the weekly supervised interval sessions at Jupiter Health were enormously beneficial. Not only did they teach me how to do interval training properly but they pushed me harder than I could push myself and kept me motivated, accountable and on track. They also provided a fantastic opportunity to ask questions, learn more and as an added bonus were claimable under my private health insurance.

“For the first time in a decade I feel in control of my weight.”

This month I completed the Great Ocean bike ride (145kms). With a finishing time of  8 hours, I don’t profess to be an athlete, but a year ago there is no way I would’ve even contemplated, let alone completed, an event like this. The first hill would’ve wiped me out and I would’ve been too exhausted to continue. Two days after the ride I was back on the bike again and feeling great. For the first time in a decade I feel in control of my weight. Thanks to Mark and the team at Jupiter Health the only hills I now have to ride out are the ones my pushie not the ones on the scales.

Fiona Evans

The post Fiona’s Story appeared first on Jupiter Health.

Gold Coast 50 is certainly one of our favourite events each year. Really well run and with 50km, 30km, 15km, 5km and 2 x 25km Relay options there really is something for everyone.

The post Heat Acclimation: Performing When The Heat Is On appeared first on Jupiter Health.

The post Fit in 6 Minutes a Week – On ABC TV Catalyst appeared first on Jupiter Health.

A scientific and proven approach to testing your fitness.

Aside from being the most accurate method of measuring cardiovascular fitness, completing a VO2max test means you will have a highly accurate idea of how your body burns fuel (fat / carbohydrate) at rest, and throughout exercise, for example – ANY WOD! The testing provides 5 key results that give you a precise profile of your fitness and uncover what is required for your body to perform at its optimum level.

1. VO2max:

Your body’s maximum capacity to perform aerobic exercise. The maximum amount of oxygen your body can use for energy production, expressed in millilitres per kilogram of bodyweight.

2. HR at RQ = 1.0:

The maximum workout intensity your body can handle before it switches entirely to carbohydrates as a fuel source. Once you are relying only on carbs to fuel your workout, it is only a matter of minutes, maybe seconds before you hit the wall. The heart rate that occurs at this exercise intensity is the measurement taken.

 3. Fuel burning profile:

Whether you’re asleep, awake, training, or reading a book, your body is constantly burning fuel (a mixture of fat and carbs). Throughout a given day your body will burn a total fuel amount that is expressed as kilojoules or calories, for example, an elite male athlete who trains 8 times per week may have a Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TEE) of around 3500 calories. As there are a multitude of factors that determine TEE, this number will vary greatly from person to person. There are a number of equations that will loosely predict TEE, however, the only accurate method of finding this information is measuring TEE using Indirect Calorimetry. The major advantage of measuring TEE is that you will know how much of your TEE is fat, and how much is carbs. The elite male athlete with a TEE of 3500 calories might burn 1750 calories of carbs per day and 1750 calories of fat, this would be a fuel burning ratio of 50:50, which is not ideal. An ideal daily fuel burning profile is up around 70:30 (fat:carbs), which is seen in most elite athletes.

4. LIPOXmax:

The maximum amount of fat your body can use to fuel a workout. The greater your ability to use fat, the more carbs you can spare for when you really need to push to the next level throughout a WOD, or any event. LIPOXmax is expressed as an amount of fat per minute, for example, 6 calories of fat per minute.

5. PWFR:

Pre-WOD Fuel Requirement. Knowing precisely how your body burns fuel while you workout means you can plan, very precisely, your fuel intake before training or competition, to optimise performance. This also means you can accurately plan your nutrition post-workout to ensure the best recovery.

The post CROSSFIT appeared first on Jupiter Health.

In this video renowned Australian research physiotherapist, Lorimer Mosely explores the purpose of pain and how the pain system functions.

He also looks at how our experiences affect the “hurt” that we feel and what this means for sufferers of chronic pain.

The post Lorimer Mosely – Why Things Hurt appeared first on Jupiter Health.

Technology advances over the past few decades have given research scientists the ability to study the human nervous system in ways never before possible. Now we have techniques that can be used to see in detail how different areas of the nervous system function… and so in recent times the mysteries of chronic pain have unravelled before our eyes.

Pain is actually an essential survival mechanism for human survival. It alerts us that something is wrong and motivates us to avoid damage. In fact people with congenital analgesia (inability to feel pain) experience reduced life expectancy as a result of the obvious problems that arise from not having this important survival mechanism in place.

While pain normally functions to warn us about tissue damage or potential tissue damage, in chronic pain the pain system itself is not functioning properly leading sufferers to experience often severe debilitating pain in the absence of any tissue damage. The video below gives a very good explanation of one of the ways the nervous system malfunctions in the case of chronic pain.

The post Chronic Pain Explained appeared first on Jupiter Health.

“The defining factor for success is never resources; its resourcefulness”

Tony Robbins.

Ibrahim Hamato – Nothing is Impossible

Having no arms isn’t going to stop Ibrahim Hamato from going after a dream. What a fantastic story this man from Egypt is.

After loosing his arms in an accident Ibrahim wanted to still play table tennis and after a few failed options he finally worked out a way… using his mouth!

A very big reminder to us all to never give up. Tony Robbins says “The defining factor for success is never resources; its resourcefulness” and I reckon Ibrahim is one great example of this.

The post Ibrahim Hamato – Nothing is Impossible appeared first on Jupiter Health.

Your metabolism is your body’s engine

When you breathe, oxygen is carried to your working muscles where carbohydrate and fat are used as fuel to create energy to keep your muscles working. In the first 2 minutes of running your body will use carbohydrates as fuel as it provides quick energy without relying on oxygen (anaerobic). When running for longer than 2 minutes, your body’s preferred fuel is fat. This is a more complex process and relies on the use of oxygen (aerobic). It produces more energy and is therefore your body’s preferred fuel source.

The more efficient your body is at using fat as it’s main fuel source, the better you can perform

The graph to the right shows an example of a typical fuel burning profile at different heart rates, where at a lower heart rate the body’s main fuel source is fat. This is where you will find your “steady state” where your engine is working at it’s optimal efficiency allowing you to feel strong while running. As you push yourself harder and your heart rate increases, your fat burning will at some stage drop to zero. The level at which your fat burning drops is different for everyone. Good endurance athletes have a higher fat burning graph that lasts for longer before reducing, which means they can run faster for longer before chewing into their carbohydrate stores. Your body only has a very small storage of carbohydrates. At intensities where carbohydrate is the only fuel source, you will soon experience “hitting the wall” and you will be forced to slow down to a level where your body can use fat as fuel again.

Your metabolism fingerprint is affected by many factors

Our metabolism is affected by factors we are born with such as genetics and hormone functions, and these are difficult to change. However the factors we can change that have a positive effect on our metabolism are diet, exercise, lean muscle mass and body fat. We all have our own unique metabolism fingerprint. Below you can see an example of two men’s fat burning profile. Get these two running together and you can see that the man on the right would struggle to keep up due to his poor fat burning ability. With correct metabolism training, he could train his body to burn fat more like the profile on the left resulting in improved running endurance.

Knowing your metabolism will allow you to get the most out of your body’s engine

Professional athletes have been using this method for decades to provide details about their metabolism to allow them to train correctly and plan for their events. Metabolism/VO2max testing allows you to see your very own metabolism fingerprint and produces answers that will help you adjust your training for fast and effective results.

Correct training for your metabolism will maximise your fat burning

Interval training is repeatedly proven by research to be the most effective in improving fat burning, endurance and performance. Metabolism/VO2 max test results are used to target specific heart rate interval zones for most effective training for each individual. This type of training stimulus results in a significant improvement in mitochondrial density inside your cells. The mitochondria are the power stations in cells where fat burning takes place.

A large number of studies looking at the effects of high intensity interval training over a period of 2-8 weeks, show solid evidence of improvements in physiological adaptations that resemble traditional endurance training despite a low total exercise volume.

Studies have found that specific high intensity exercise training can achieve improved fat burning ability similar to endurance training but with up to 90% less time spent training!   (Burgomaster et al.2008; Rakobowchuk et al. 2008)

Watch this Channel 7 News story          - Testimonials from metabolism clients

The post Your Fat Burning Profile – the key to running faster for longer appeared first on Jupiter Health.

Watch a game of rugby league, AFL or tennis played nowadays compared to several decades ago and it is immediately obvious that there has been advances in performance. Look at how world records have tumbled and this is also obvious. BUT… what is really behind this?

In this video sports science reporter David Epstein presents some fascinating data that may well surprise you.

Your metabolism give clues about which events you will perform best at. With smart training you can also manipulate your metabolism to better suit your chosen events. Contact us to find out how.

The post Are athletes really getting faster, better, stronger? appeared first on Jupiter Health.