Emma Cutts, sports physiologist, says people come to the gym for a range of reasons and each one needs a different schedule to get the results they want
I try to work 9am to 5pm but that rarely happens. We have to be flexible to fit in with clients' schedules so my hours are usually 6am to 7pm.
At the Peak Centre in Sandymount I work with and test clients who want to achieve specific fitness goals, whether that is weight loss or improving fitness levels.
We use tests to find out how the body responds to exercise so we can determine how an individual should train in order to achieve the right results.
We have a variety of clients,
from
Olympic athletes to people trying to lose weight. One of our clients was a 64-year-old who wanted to get fit to climb a mountain. We have a huge array of clients attending the centre.
When people exercise at home or at the gym they are not always doing the right training. Typically a client may come to us if they are exercising at a very high intensity at the gym but they are not losing any weight.
This is because they are producing too much lactate. By carrying out tests we can determine how they should be exercising and at what intensity in order to reach their goal.
Firstly, I put the client through a series of tests that provide very specific information. I carry out a body fat analysis by using callipers at seven sites on the body to measure the fat composition.
The client is then asked to exercise on an aerobic machine such as a rower, exercise bike or treadmill for VO2 aerobic testing to see how efficient they are at using oxygen and to determine when they go from using fat as a fuel to carbohydrate and at what intensity.
I use a heart rate monitor to measure how their heart responds to exercise and I check lactic acid levels in the blood at different levels of exercise.
These tests allow me to establish their unique aerobic threshold.
The aerobic threshold is the level below which the body can continue to exercise comfortably while burning fat. Take exercise above this and your body starts to burn mostly carbohydrate which really does not benefit the body in relation to weight loss and this is where people go wrong.
The tests can take an hour to an hour and a half to carry out. We offer different packages. There is a six-month weight-loss package that involves a test in the first three months, then another three months later.
I design a specific programme based on their lifestyles. I also assess diet where we carry out a three-day analysis and ask the clients to write down everything they eat for two days during the week and one day at the weekend.
We then input this data into the computer to analyse the fats, proteins, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins they are eating.
For more information contact the Peak Centre on: 01 293 499 or email emma@peakcentreireland.com for an initial fitness assessment or a full weight-loss programme.
(In interview with Patricia Weston)