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What is a MET and Why Should I Care?

October 30, 2005 2:44 pm 0 comments

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No. MET, that mysterious acronym that has appeared on many late-model cardio machines, does not stand for "Magnificient Effort Today." It’s healthspeak shorthand for "metabolic equivalent units," which is healthspeak longhand for the amount of oxygen our bodies consume when at rest, which turns out to be  3.5 milliliters per kilogram of body weight per minute. The Los Angeles Times does a nice job of explaining  the metric, and of telling us why it’s a more useful measurement than "calories burned." (Because calories burned by different people for any particular exercise vary with the person’s weight, while METs work the same for everyone.)  The Times also reports that a healthy 50-year-old man should have a capacity of at least 9.2 METs; and a healthy 50-year-old woman should clock in at 8.2 METs or higher, according to a recent study on women’s fitness in the New England Journal of Medicine.  The story includes a handy sidebar on MET measurements for different exercises. Read more.

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