InsideOut client: Heather Beaver... Racking up Results!

Caroline Kavanagh | Oct 6, 2020

On Heather's recent "fun" 90-mile weekend ride she amassed 18 "Queen of Mountain" (QOM) Crowns!

To be the local heroine and rack up just one coveted Crown you need to be both fit and fast. To rack-up 18 QOM's on one ride requires fit, fast and on-fire! All boxes are checked!

For those of you not familiar with Strava (ride/run/swim tracking app), a Crown signifies the top performer on a given segment – King/Queen of the Mountain (KOM/QOM) or Course Record (CR). Crowns are awarded to the fastest athlete to date on a segment's overall leaderboard. These current all-time KOM/QOM/CR crowns are stored in a special list on Strava for reference.

Segments designate specific features or portions of a route – such as a climb, a tricky stretch of trail or part of an open-water swim. Each time you complete a segment, your time is recorded. Each activity type has its own segments and leaderboards. Cyclists compete with cyclists, runners compete with runners, swimmers with swimmers and so on.

On the cycling board, in a grand manner, the name Heather Beaver has arrived! Who said 2020 was an "off" year? Not for Heather! From a nutritional standpoint, Heather's next level prowess was set in motion last year, right around this same time, as she began her Metabolic Efficiency Training (MET) journey.

Her goals were to reach and maintain a healthy weight and recover from injury. After this was achieved, she would think about racing.

We started in late July with an incremental metabolic assessment to get an understanding of how her current nutrition was influencing her metabolism. More specifically, her carbohydrate and fat oxidation percentages across varying exercise intensities. Prior to testing, she also provided sample days of her daily nutrition from which changes and adjustments were made.

One year later....

Recently, Heather came back into the InsideOut Lab to do a bike reassessment. This second test solidified the positive body composition improvements she had achieved over the past year. Mission accomplished! Shown below are the first pages of Heather's metabolic assessment reports and are titled "Metabolic Efficiency Point" (MEP). These particular graphs show energy expenditure from fat and carbohydrate at increased intensities. They also indicate whether an athlete does, in fact, have a Metabolic Efficiency Point (MEP) and if so, the heart rate and intensity at which it occurred. It is from this unique information that adjustments to nutrition and training are made based on the athletes goals and phase's of training.

The complete assessment reports also include training and race fueling intake ranges, targeted fat-burning as well as nutrition suggestions based on the clients current daily foodstuff. For this article, I am only featuring the first page of each of Heather's bike reports. Before any assessment there is a warm up period of about 10-15 minutes in which time the athlete is "hooked-up" to the metabolic cart with headgear and mask via long tubing. During this warm up, expired breath is measured (respiratory exchange ratio - RER) through the analyzer, and carbohydrate and fat oxidation is viewed as it scrolls upward on the computer screen. This warm up period also helps to establish the starting intensity of the assessment. ............................................ Heather's Assessments: ............................................

Assessment #1 Client: Heather Beaver Date: July, 2019 Age: 50 years

RESULT: Initial Assessment shows no MEP. Primary focus at this time – daily nutrition in order to stabilize blood sugar.

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Heather's first assessment (above) showed no metabolic efficiency point. This is more common than you may think, even for those athletes who are quite lean! What does this mean? Simply put, she was burning a higher percentage of carbohydrate versus fat even at a relatively low heart rate and intensity. This established her starting point from which improvements would be made.

One year later...

Heather came back to the Lab for another bike assessment. This time the goals were to continue feeling awesome and fine tune nutrition in order to optimize her bike performance. .............................................

Assessment #2 Client: Heather Date: July, 2020 Age: 51 years

RESULT: Assessment shows MEP occurred at an estimated heart rate of 151 beats per minute (bpm) and an estimated intensity of 155 watts. Below this heart rate and intensity, she was more efficient at using fat as an energy source, but began to burn a higher proportion of carbohydrate beyond this intensity.

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Summary

Gargantuan improvement! Ranking up there with one of the most impressive advancements I have witnessed to date. Bravo! On the "inside".... Heather has a metabolic efficiency point (#2 graph above) and it is hovering at a heart rate that allows her to reap the full benefits of metabolic flexibility. Her body is no longer relying heavily on her bodies limited carbohydrate stores for aerobic based activity. I'll also mention her power output - the last stage of the test was 5 minutes at 190 watts and she was not at her physical limit - still pedaling smoothly and efficiently. Dazzling to witness! On the "outside"... Heather is down 20 pounds and is feeling incredible! At 5'2" tall, Heather is now light and strong and quite frankly "unstoppable!" Every time I see her she is smiling and I continue to hear positive remarks either directly, or passed on through the "grape vine," such as... "What did you eat for breakfast?" (as she wrapped up a long hilly ride with the "big boys.") "Heather dropped me on the ride!" (Yup, another "big boy" ride comment) "I would like to make similar improvements to what you accomplished with Heather." "I'm looking for the same results as Heather!" Suffice to say, her initial goals have been met with improved body composition and establishing a healthy body weight. Her power-to-weight ratio on the bike is fantastic. Her performance on two wheels has sky-rocketed! Heather not only looks marvelous, but more importantly, she feels sensational. With all the health improvements to date, I still only see these initial outcomes as the beginning of a long list of accomplishments yet to racked and tallied. My applause to Heather in her diligence implementing the basic principles of Metabolic Efficiency Training. It works. A lifestyle shift in a way of eating that is easy and sustainable. As they say, "the proof is in the pudding." Pun intended :)

I'm looking forward to seeing what Heather will accomplish in 2021. I believe she is ready to race. Lookout competitors!

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Test don't guess! #insideOuthp.com #metabolicefficiency