VO2 and Sky Fitness

So I started working out at Sky Fitness approximately 8 weeks after Jaxson was born. It was actually difficult to get back into it considering I did nothing for about 10 months. So I started with Reformer Pilates. I paid extra to take this class. It is the kind you take on the machine not to be mistaken with the mat class. Anyway the classes are pretty expensive, but you do get what you pay for. In 2 months I lost almost 4% body fat. My trainer talked me into getting a heart rate monitor and taking a VO2 test. Sky was offering it as a special. This is a stress test. While I was only on the treadmill for 20 min, it wiped me out. How it works is you find out your max heart rate and your target zones are generated from that. Your target zones are very important because they are very individual to you. So is the oxygen you take in. I happen to be average. I burn about 2 fat calories in my first zone. Not to bore with the details, it goes without saying everyone needs to take this test otherwise you are just wasting your time in your cardio workouts. Now I know exactly how hard I work and with that I can apply this knowledge to build more lean muscle and improve on my oxygen intake. Fat burns in the presence of oxygen. The more oxygen your body takes in, the more fat it burns. Otherwise you are burning carbs which results in hunger and soreness. So I felt it was well worth the time and money spent on the monitor and the test. We will see how I progress over the next 12 weeks. I was given a workout plan to improve my VO2 levels. I am on day 2 and it is killer.