Comprehensive Postural and Fitness Assessments
On your first visit you will be put through a very comprehensive 1-1/2 hour physical evaluation so that your therapist can develop an accurate exercise program that meets your needs. Joint range of motion, muscle testing and anthropometric (girth) measurements will be addressed. Nutrition and lifestyle will also be discussed.. An exercise program will then be given to you along with instructions to follow. At your request you can have your session videotaped so that you can watch the session in the comfort of your own home.
Lactate Testing
Lactate is constantly being produced by the body as an end product of glycolysis (the chemical breakdown of sugar).When we are at rest lactate values are low but when exercise is introduced ( lets say cycling), as intensity increases so do your lactate levels. There comes a point when the body cannot get rid of the excess lactic acid because it is accumulating at such a high rate in the blood that eventually fatigue will set in and then the athlete will either slow down or cease the activity.
Lactate testing has been around for many years and is used world wide as the most popular and affordable testing method to increase a cyclist’s performance.
The main advantage of lactate testing is that it provides objective data through an invasive approach of capturing small samples of blood so that decisions can be made as to how to improve a cyclist’s performance.
Lactate testing actually informs us on how well the aerobic and anaerobic systems are working together.
Other tests and training methods are available to collect data, but they are either too expensive or have a tendency to produce errors. (Vo2 max test, Conconi stress test, exercise economy).
The test is performed in a well ventilated room. The cyclist is then positioned on their bike which is supported on a computerized Computrainer (which stores important data that can be used later on to help with the riding assessment). After a 10 minute warm-up the actual test begins, once the cyclist has been riding foe 4 minutes, a blood lactate level is taken from the finger tip and the data is stored in a lactate pro machine, the cyclist continues to ride with the power output being adjusted every 4 minutes in 25 watt increments The test is over once the cyclist can’t go any longer.
