What are the Advantages of Metabolic Testing?

Metabolic testing is a process that measures a person’s resting metabolic rate, which is the number of calories burned during inactivity. Professional and Olympic athletes, as well as people who desire to lose weight, often use this kind of testing. The test is very simple — the person breathes into a tube, and the air breathed out is analyzed to determine how much oxygen the body consumes. There are many advantages of metabolic testing, such as discovering the maximum amount of calories a person should consume in a day, determining peak performance times and distinguishing between pulmonary and cardiac issues.

When people want to lose weight, they must burn more calories than they consume. Everyone has different metabolic profiles, and metabolic testing allows people to customize a weight loss plan to fit their individual needs. Many people are discouraged when they hit a plateau weight even after they cut back on favorite foods. When people do metabolic testing, their physicians can prescribe specific caloric intake weight control program to identify how many calories should be consumed to lose weight as well as how many calories can be consumed to maintain weight.

Metabolic testing has been used since the 1990s to evaluate athletes and assess methods for athletic performance improvement. Because each athlete’s metabolic type is different and each sport has different physical requirements, this kind of testing has several advantages over previous methods. These advantages include being able to conduct the tests at different times of the day to identify the best time for workouts as well as seeing overall progression in training. Some countries' athletic organizations use the results of this type of testing to determine who makes the Olympic team.

Many people who have problems with shortness of breath find metabolic testing to be more advantageous than the conventional stress test methods. With metabolic testing, a physician can systematically increase a person’s exertion levels while still monitoring his or her physiological parameters. This type of testing also can determine whether the shortness of breath is caused by psychological factors, such as anxiety, rather than by pulmonary disease, cardiac disease or vascular problems. The doctor can then create a custom rehabilitation program to fit the patient’s specific needs.

There are many places that conduct metabolic testing, including specialized centers, physician’s offices and athletic centers. Metabolic testing typically takes only 10 to 15 minutes and usually involves some form of exercise, such as walking, as the subject breathes into a tube. This test will verify the rate of the person’s metabolism, determine his or her body mass index (BMI) and compare the test results to those of other individuals with the same height, weight and age.