Core Performance Package

Core Performance Package

This package includes the combined lactate threshold testing and VO2MAX testing, alongside body composition measures through ISAK skinfold calliper assessment. As standard, tests are conducted in one appointment, but may be separated to different booking slots if preferred.  

VO2 Max Testing

VO2 Max Testing, test-to-exhaustion, can be performed on a treadmill, cycle ergometer, or a rowing machine. Exercise intensity increases with increments every minute for approximately 8-12 minutes until a maximum velocity or power output is attained. Data collected includes oxygen uptake and carbon dioxide production, using research-grade, state-of-the-art, metabolic analysers to determine cardiorespiratory fitness, metabolic thresholds, and substrate utilisation. Furthermore, heart rate and indices of breathing patterns and ventilatory efficiency are collected.

These outcomes provide individually tailored feedback on health and performance indicators, as well as enabling guidance for optimising training purposes. You will be provided with a bespoke scientific report to put your results into age, sex, and sporting discipline contexts, as well as receive evidence-based training guidance from the Oriam Clinic Sport and Exercise Sciences team at Heriot-Watt University.

Lactate Threshold Test

This is a submaximal exercise test that provides a wealth of high-quality data to inform your endurance performance and training. Similar to the VO2MAX test, exercise can be conducted on a range of exercise equipment, with metabolic, heart rate and ventilatory data collected using research-grade equipment to deliver you reliable data to support your training and competition.

The advantages of a lactate threshold include a longer test duration, including 4-minute stages before stepwise increases in intensity, as well as the direct measures of blood lactate, revealing distinct metabolic thresholds and exercise training zones with a higher degree of accuracy. Individualised training zones are more representative of steady-state exercise than with a VO2MAX test, making them more suitable for longer distance runners and more able to detect changes from pre- and post-intervention, such as training blocks.

Data will be reported clearly in written format with detailed graphical illustrations and comparisons to normative datasets. Bespoke reports will provide evidence-based guidance for optimising your training and preparation for upcoming competitions and events.  

ISAK Skinfold Calliper Assessment

Conducted in adherence to the rigorous standards of the International Society for the Advancement of Kinanthropometry (ISAK), our skinfold calliper assessment provides precise and reliable measures of body composition. ISAK certified anthropometrists will measure skinfold thickness using gold-standard Harpenden callipers at standardised anatomical landmarks to ensure that data is valid and repeatable, thereby providing useful data on the progression of a weight loss, maintenance, or muscle building program. Knowledge of body composition can aid in injury prevention, mobility and flexibility, exercise performance, and the detection of relative energy deficiency.  Also, when measures are repeated across timepoints, body composition assessments can provide clarity on the effectiveness of nutrition and exercise training programs.