Ryerson University’s NExT Lab Helps ‘New Year’s Resolution-ers’ Obtain Gains!

Three months into 2016, many of the ‘new year’s resolution-ers’ have either given up or fully integrated a healthy diet and a regular exercise routine into their weekly agenda. With all the hard work being put in, how does one measure the effectiveness of one’s efforts? How can an individual tell if all the hard work is actually improving their overall health? This is often one of the most commonly asked questions by people who are just starting a new diet and a new exercise routine. In addition, when these people fail to see their hard work being paid off, they are often discouraged and abandon their healthy diet and exercise routine altogether.

Ryerson University’s NExT Lab officially launched a program to allow the general public to visit the lab and have their level of personal fitness measured accurately. How is this achieved? NExT Lab offers a Bod Pod, which is an egg-shaped device that allows a person to sit inside. While situated inside, the Bod Pod will use ultrasound to measure the body composition of the participant. “It’s the wave of the future,” says Nick Bellissimo, assistant professor as well as the director of NExT Lab. By having your body composition measured, you are better able to make decisions on which part of the body to work on in the following weeks or months.

Aside from Bod Pods, NExT Lab is also equipped with the indirect calorimeter, which measures one’s resting metabolic rate (RMR). What is RMR? According to Bellissimo, it is fundamental for measuring how many calories an individual burns in a day as well as how many calories an individual needs to eat on a daily basis to either lose or maintain weight.

NExT Lab is Ryerson University’s next step into promoting healthy living. Dr. Bellissimo and his team members are researching and discovering the factors that affect eating patterns of children. In addition, the NExT Lab is in direct association with Ryerson’s athletics department, which further enhances the athletes’ performance.

With the Bod Pod and the indirect calorimeter, ‘new year’s resolution-ers’ are better able to track their results and make necessary changes to their diet or exercise accordingly. This makes staying healthy in 2016 much easier!

Our next live event will feature Dr. Nick Bellissimo. Be sure to ask him any questions you may have regarding Bod Pods and indirect calorimeters!