Metabolic Testing
What is Metabolic Testing?
Metabolic testing isn’t just for elite athletes—it’s a game-changer for anyone looking to optimize health, energy use, and fitness performance. At Portland Physical Therapy and Fitness, we use cutting-edge testing to analyze your body’s efficiency in burning fats and carbohydrates, helping you fine-tune your training and nutrition for maximum results.
With the expertise of Dr. Matt Marino, a doctor of physical therapy specializing in physiological testing, we offer precise metabolic assessments that guide tailored strategies for weight management, endurance improvement, and overall health optimization.
Why Metabolic Testing Matters for Health & Fitness
Understanding how your body processes energy can significantly impact your fitness, nutrition, and recovery strategies. Metabolic testing provides a detailed breakdown of your energy expenditure, helping determine:
- How efficiently your body burns fat at rest.
- When your body shifts from burning fat to carbohydrates during exercise.
- Your caloric needs for weight loss, muscle gain, or maintenance.
- The best training zones for endurance and performance.
- How to optimize your nutrition to fuel workouts and recovery.
By leveraging this data, we can develop a highly personalized approach to your fitness and health, eliminating guesswork and fast-tracking results.
How Metabolic Testing Works
Our metabolic testing protocol includes three primary assessments:
- Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) Test: This simple, 10-minute test measures how many calories your body burns at rest, helping tailor a precise nutrition plan.
- Spirometry Testing: A short breathing test that analyzes lung function, gas exchange, and respiratory efficiency.
- VO2 Max Test: A high-intensity ramp test that measures maximal oxygen uptake, establishing your peak cardiovascular fitness level and optimal training zones.
Each test provides critical insights into your metabolism, allowing us to refine your workout intensity, calorie intake, and endurance strategies with precision.
Benefits of Metabolic Testing for Weight Loss & Performance
Metabolic testing is one of the most effective tools for breaking through fitness plateaus and achieving targeted results. Some of the key benefits include:
- Optimized Fat Burning: Understand when your body shifts fuel sources and how to maximize fat metabolism.
- Tailored Nutrition Planning: Know exactly how many calories you need to lose fat, build muscle, or sustain energy.
- Performance Enhancement: Train in the right heart rate zones to build endurance without overtraining.
- Faster Recovery: Reduce fatigue and improve post-workout recovery with data-backed strategies.
- Sustainable Weight Management: Avoid yo-yo dieting with science-backed metabolic data guiding your plan.
Who Can Benefit from Metabolic Testing?
This isn’t just for competitive athletes—metabolic testing is valuable for:
- Individuals Struggling with Weight Loss – Stop guessing calorie intake and optimize your metabolism for sustainable results.
- Endurance Athletes – Maximize aerobic capacity, improve race performance, and optimize fueling strategies.
- Strength Athletes – Improve recovery, energy availability, and performance with a customized nutrition plan.
- People Focused on General Health – Gain a deeper understanding of how your body utilizes energy and improve overall wellness.
- Recreational Fitness Enthusiasts – Take a smarter, data-driven approach to fitness for long-term success.
Metabolic Testing Process at Portland Physical Therapy and Fitness
At Portland Physical Therapy and Fitness, we prioritize accuracy and individualized care. Here’s what to expect:
- Initial Consultation & Intake Forms – A thorough health and fitness assessment.
- Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) Test – A short, 10-minute test while lying down with a breathing mask.
- Spirometry Testing – A quick analysis of respiratory efficiency.
- VO2 Max Ramp Test – A high-intensity exercise test measuring oxygen utilization and peak cardiovascular output.
- Data Analysis & Personalized Recommendations – A full breakdown of results with actionable training and nutrition strategies.
Expect a 60-minute appointment for testing, including preparation and post-test review.
Metabolic Testing for Athletes
For athletes, small performance gains can mean the difference between winning and falling short. Metabolic testing provides critical data to:
- Dial in Training Zones – Train smarter, not harder, by working within the ideal intensity ranges for endurance and power.
- Enhance Oxygen Efficiency – Maximize aerobic output and improve stamina for long races and competitions.
- Prevent Overtraining – Use real data to balance training loads and recovery.
- Optimize Race Nutrition – Know exactly how to fuel for long-distance events and high-intensity performances.
Elite athletes train at the Olympic Training Center with similar metabolic testing protocols—now you can access the same science-backed approach right here in Portland.
Types of Tests Available at Portland Physical Therapy and Fitness
Resting Metabolic (RMR) Test
- Appointment Duration: 60 min
- Useful for anyone wanting to determine their unique energy requirements to know exactly how much they need to eat to achieve their weight management and performance goals.
- Measures heart rate (HR) and breathing to determine how many calories your body burns at rest.
- Measures whether you have a fast, average, or slow metabolism at rest.
- Gives you the data you need to design nutrition and training programs geared toward burning body fat, gaining lean mass, or fueling performance.
- Includes the test, a report, and a consult to review your results.
Spirometry Test
- Appointment Duration: 30 min
- Spirometry Tests measure your lung capacity and how quickly you can exhale.
- These measurements can be used by a physician to diagnose various lung conditions.
- Regular Spirometry Tests can be used to monitor your lung condition and breathing performance.
- Spirometry data can be used to determine if you are breathing an appropriate amount of air during your training and identify certain respiratory limitations holding back performance.
*Idiag P100 Respiratory Training Device Purchases and Rentals – Contact Matthew Marino for options, details and pricing.
Exercise Tests
Short Step Test
- Appointment Duration: 90 min
- A short step test is a Graded Exercise Test (GXT) in which there is a 3-minute warm up, followed by the workload is gradually increasing in every 1-2-minutes increments until exhaustion, followed by a 3-minute or longer recovery.
- The test can be performed on a variety of training equipment (e.g., treadmill, bike, rower, assault bike
- Measures heart rate , breathing, core body temperature, and muscle oxygenation
- Provides maximum VO2, heart rate, minute ventilation, respiratory frequency, and tidal volume.
- Provides personalized HR, power, or speed training zones, ventilatory thresholds (VT1 and VT2), and workout guidelines.
- Serves as a feedback loop to measure progress over time.
- Helps identify cardiovascular, respiratory, or metabolic limitations needing to be addressed with training and nutrition .
- Includes the test, a report , raw data, and a consult to review your results.
Long Step Test
- Appointment Duration: 120 min
- Similar to a Short Step Test (see above), a long step test is a Graded Exercise Test (GXT) in which the workload is gradually increased in 3-minute or longer increments until exhaustion.
- The test can be performed on a variety of training equipment (e.g., treadmill, bike, rower, assault bike)
- Measures heart rate, breathing, core body temperature, and muscle oxygenation.
- Provides maximum VO2, heart rate, minute ventilation, respiratory frequency, and tidal volume.
- Provides personalized heart rate, power, or speed training zones, ventilatory thresholds (VT1 and VT2), and workout guidelines.
- Serves as a feedback loop to measure progress over time.
- Helps identify cardiovascular, respiratory, or metabolic limitations needing to be addressed with training and nutrition.
- Includes the test, a report, raw data, and a consult to review your results.
Performance Testing
(Intervals, Repeated Sprint Ability, and Training Session Monitoring)
- Appointment Duration: 60 min or more
- Design and measure customized testing protocols or training sessions while measuring heart rate, breathing, core body temperature, muscle oxygenation, power, cadence, and other data from compatible sensors or devices.
- Provides minimum, mean, and maximum values for all data collected.
- Serves as a feedback loop to measure progress over time.
- Helps identify cardiovascular, respiratory, or metabolic limitations needing to be addressed with training and nutrition.
- Serves as a feedback loop to measure progress over time.
- Helps identify cardiovascular, respiratory, or metabolic limitations needing to be addressed with training and nutrition.
- Includes the test, a report, raw data, and a consult to review your results.
Metabolic testing at Portland Physical Therapy and Fitness is your gateway to peak performance, weight optimization, and unparalleled fitness insights. Schedule your appointment today and take control of your health with real data.