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Canadian University offers high-tech fitness testing to public

Vo2 max test.

Designing your targeted diet and fitness plans for the new year has just got easier thanks to nutrition and exercise experts at a Canadian university.

Toronto’s Ryerson University has just opened it’s NExT Lab, a facility offering a high-tech analysis of personal fitness levels and body composition.The lab performs an ultrasound and treadmill test, giving participants insight to their resting metabolic rate (RMR), cardio fitness levels. The ultrasound also provides an exact measure of fat and lean tissues of individual muscles.

This type of in-depth analysis goes far beyond what you would get from regular testing, and certainly a simple read from a scale, giving an understanding of how many calories individuals burn within a 24-hour period as well as which types of foods a person is burning while working out. This will be useful for anyone designing personalized plans to increase fitness levels or tailoring specific diets for losing weight.

Anyone looking to get the in-depth anaylsis can expect intense exercise that comes from running on their treadmill to find out how efficiently their heart works during exercise. It’s not all tough stuff though. Afterwards, athletes can look forward to a lazy half hour lying still inside the “Bod Pod” which gleans information about body composition.

The lab is open at Ryerson’s Kerr Hall building a few days a week. Faculty and students of the school will get discounted prices, but as for the public, a full assessment will cost $300. Of course, someone wanting to get tested can opt for just the ultrasound or treadmill test alone. A trip just inside the Bod Pod will cost $70, an ultrasound will cost $75 and using the calorimeter has a price tag of $100.

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