CPET (ergospirometry—ergometric testing) is the most accurate test for assessing how your heart, lungs, and metabolism function during exercise. We measure your breathing, oxygen levels, heart rate, and performance so that we can determine the your actual fitness level and your limits. The test reveals when your body burns fat or carbohydrates, where it gets tired, and what you can safely improve. This is an exercise that is extremely important for your heart health.
Personalized Exercise Programs
Based on the test results, we can create a fully personalized exercise program, both for healthy people, athletes, as well as for those who want to know the level of exercise they are permitted to engage in given their medical conditions (heart disease, lung disease, etc.). This program is tailored to your fitness level, weight, metabolism, and goals. The intensity is determined by the doctor to ensure that the workout is safe and truly effective. The program aims to increase endurance, burn fat, improve cardiorespiratory function, and achieve gradual, measurable progress.
Exercise Spirometry and Personalized Exercise
The combination of CPET and personalized exercise offers a workout that is perfectly tailored to your body and your needs, ensuring safety and faster results.
Ergospirometry (ergometric, maximum oxygen consumption – VO2max) is the most comprehensive test for accurately assessing how your body responds to exercise. During the test, we measure your breathing, heart function, and metabolism in real time. These values change as the intensity of exercise on a stationary bike or treadmill gradually increases.
Exercise spirometry (CPET) is performed on a treadmill or exercise bike, with a gradual increase in exercise intensity. During the test, respiration, cardiac function, and Real-time fatigue tolerance and electrocardiogram. In very specific (pathological) situations, a cardiac ultrasound may also be performed during exercise spirometry (CPET + stress echo). This test can only be performed on a stationary bicycle. The procedure is safe, controlled, and adapted to the patient’s fitness level and each person’scapabilities. Unlike simple fatigue tests, ergospirometry is not based on general formulas or estimates. It provides personalized data on how energy is produced, when you get tired, what exercise intensity is beneficial for you, and when exercise becomes excessive.
During exercise spirometry, we measure key parameters that indicate how the heart, lungs, and muscles work together during exercise.
Key Parameters of Ergospirometry
The key parameters of ergospirometry are as follows:
- VO₂ max: Indicates the body’s maximum capacity to utilize oxygen during exercise and is a key indicator of physical fitness and endurance.
- AT1 (first respiratory threshold): This corresponds to the exercise intensity that can be maintained for a considerable amount of time with ease and minimal fatigue.
- AT2 (second respiratory threshold): Indicates the threshold above which exercise becomes particularly demanding and fatigue sets in quickly.
These values allow us to design a personalized exercise program that is ideal for each individual being evaluated. Based on the ergospirometry data, the exercise becomes safe, effective, and tailored to each individual’s level and goals. These parameters are useful both for healthy individuals and athletes, as well as people who are obese or have cardiometabolic diseases.
There are many other parameters that are calculated and provide useful information depending on the examinee’s goal.
Who is this intended for?
Ergospirometry is intended for people regardless of their physical condition. It is useful for healthy individuals who want to exercise properly and safely. It is also used by athletes seeking to improve their performance and avoid overtraining. At the same time, people suffering from Obesity or metabolic disorders —and patients who require exercises tailored to their metabolism —benefit from this procedure. Finally, ergospirometry is particularly useful for patients with chronic diseases, for whom exercise must be strictly controlled.
What are the benefits of ergospirometry?
The benefits of ergospirometry are numerous, making it an extremely important procedure for cardiovascular health. Some of the most important ones are as follows:
- Definition of actual training zones (rather than theoretical ones)
- Determining the intensity at which exercise is most effective for burning fat or improving endurance
- Assessment of Cardiorespiratory Function and Functional Capacity
- Early detection of signs that require adjustments or attention in the exercise program
From the exam to your personal schedule
The results of ergospirometry are more than just a number or a graph. They form the basis for a personalized exercise prescription, tailored to your fitness level, your goals (health, weight loss, performance), your metabolism and heart function, as well as your daily routine and capabilities.
This makes exercise safe, effective, and sustainable, without overexertion, injuries, or frustration.
Ergospirometry & Metabolism in Obesity
In obese individuals, ergospirometry becomes even more valuable when combined with the measurement of Resting Energy Expenditure (REE).
With the REE Canopy, we accurately measure how many calories your body burns at complete rest. It also determines which fuel source it uses (carbohydrates or fat). This helps you avoid generic diets and arbitrary estimates that often lead to failure or exhaustion.
The combination of ergospirometry and REE allows us to:
- to know how much energy you actually need each day
- Choose the exercise intensity that suits your metabolism
- to design an exercise program that promotes fat loss without slowing down the metabolism
- to objectively monitor progress and adjust our strategy
In this way, exercise and nutrition cease to be a matter of trial and error and become a personalized, medically evidence-based intervention.
Exercise Planning
The process of designing exercises in medical clinics CarE MediC clinics follows these steps:
- Resting Energy Expenditure (REE) with Canopy: We measure your resting energy expenditure (REE) to determine how many calories your body actually needs at rest and how it uses energy. Measuring your resting metabolic rate is the foundation for proper exercise planning and weight management.
- Ergospirometry – Exercise Test with Respiratory Analysis: Ergospirometry allows us to accurately assess cardiorespiratory function and determine actual exercise zones. The exercise test is performed safely and provides data for healthy individuals, athletes, people with obesity, and patients.
- Personalized Exercise Prescription – Measurable Results: By combining ergospirometry and basal metabolic rate, we design an exercise program tailored to your body and your goals. The result is sustainable fat loss, improved physical fitness, and safe, long-term exercise.
Ergospirometry and basal metabolic rate measurement are the most reliable ways to design an exercise program with medical precision.
If you want to know exactly how your heart and metabolism respond to exercise and to design a program based on actual medical data, ergospirometry or CarE MediC is the most reliable step to take.
The Cardiologist Dr. Christos Maniotis, Ph.D. from the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (EKPA), with a specialty in Cardiology in Greece and the U.S. (St. Luke’s – Columbia University) and EACVI certification in cardiac ultrasound, and a master’s degree from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens —in Ergospirometry, Exercise, and Rehabilitation—approaches exercise as a medical practice rather than a general recommendation. With many years of clinical and research experience and active participation in international studies and conferences, he comprehensively evaluates your cardiorespiratory function and safely guides you through every stage of your fitness program.
Contact us and schedule your appointment at CarE MediC and turn exercise into a targeted, scientifically proven investment in your cardiovascular health. At our lab, ergospirometry can be performed on a treadmill, on a stationary bike (spin bike), and on a recumbent bike (for CPET+ stress echo), depending on the exercise and the patient’s needs.