On Friday I visited Cal State Sacramento’s Human Performance Testing Laboratory to be tested for various sports performance markers by Dr. Roberto Quintana, a professor of exercise physiology. The purpose was to have some baseline benchmarks for comparison to after this six-month yoga makeover. Although the most information will be gleaned when we compare the before and after test results, there were a few things we found that were already quite interesting.

Dr. Quintana began by performing a lung function test on me, in which we discovered that my functional lung volume (the maximum amount of air I can forcibly inhale and exhale) is about 25 percent greater than average for my high and weight! However, we also discovered that I have mild obstructive lung disease. The test showed that although I can breathe a large total volume of air, the rate at which the air was able to flow in and out of my lungs is slow and obstructed. It would take more detailed testing at a pulmonary clinic to determine if it is due to asthma, my seasonal allergies, or other factors. I grew up around cigarette smoking parents and grandparents, so I have a feeling the second-hand smoke might have something to do with this obstruction.

We also tested my cycling performance on a stationary bike and running on a treadmill. In both cases, I wore headgear and a nose clip so I’d breathe into a mouthpiece connected to a machine analyzing my breath content for oxygen and carbon dioxide. With both the bike and the run, I performed four 10-minute intervals at a pre-set speed or power output, each interval harder/faster than the previous one. The computer analyzed my oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide output, and Dr. Quintana asked me for my perceived effort on a scale of 20 during each 10-minute interval. At the end of each 10-minute test, we pricked a finger for a blood sample to check my blood lactate levels and find out when I reach various thresholds such as aerobic/lactate threshold and my Maximum Level Steady State threshold.

Besides finding my thresholds and noting my perceived efforts, the tests also provided raw data for Dr. Quintana to calculate my efficiency—how much energy is actually transformed into propelling my body vs. wasted on inefficient biomechanics. These markers will be most interesting when we retest in a few months and see if yoga enhances my efficiency.

While we never performed the well-known VO2Max test (popular amongst endurance athletes as it gages a maximal rate of oxygen uptake and predicts a person’s athletic potential), we did measure my VO2 during each of these sub-maximal 10-minute efforts. Based on these VO2 measurements, we have a decent idea of where my VO2Max may be, which can predict my performance potential. This is a round-about way for me to say that the tests indicated that I have a relatively high VO2Max consistent with a regionally or nationally competitive runner. And I have the potential to run quite a lot faster than I had previously thought possible. To be specific, the predicted mile, 5K and 10K race times were ones I have already met in the past, which gives me confidence the numbers are true. However, the predicted marathon time is far faster than I ever dreamed possible for me. Granted, I am not a real runner, but it's still encouraging to break out of my preconceived limitations. I had assumed that a 3-hour 30-minute marathon would be my best hope, but the tests showed that, with appropriate training and without some of the running inefficiencies caused by biking and swimming, I have the potential to run a blazing fast 3-hour marathon!

So, with pranayama practice, I hope that some of my breathing obstruction will be removed, and perhaps my functional lung volume might become even greater. Also it will be interesting to see if yoga asana practice helps me bike and run with greater efficiency and less effort to achieve something closer to my physiological potential. This is definitely a to-be-continued story. Stay with me to find out what interesting changes we discover in a few months.