What Is VO2 Max, and How Does It Affect Your Fitness?

There’s no scarcity of how to measure health, however which technique is essentially the most correct? Body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and the numbers on the scale might help observe weight loss and supply clues to your total well being, however none of them present a dependable measurement of cardiorespiratory health, which, according to the American Heart Association, is without doubt one of the strongest indicators of total well being. That’s why high well being and health professionals advocate VO2 max testing.

What’s VO2 Max?

VO2 max is the measure of your physique’s effectivity in consuming and using oxygen. If that sounds sophisticated, maybe a broader view of cardiorespiratory system features and the blood oxygenation course of is so as.

In easy phrases, we inhale oxygen into our lungs, the place it’s transferred to our blood. The oxygenated blood travels to the guts, the place it’s pumped out to the physique’s organs, muscular tissues, and varied different tissues.

VO2 max represents the best quantity of oxygen your physique can recruit for that course of in a given time frame. It’s measured in milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute, or ml/kg/min.

In addition to being an indicator of cardiorespiratory fitness, a powerful VO2 max might help you obtain your well being and health objectives.

“The extra oxygen you’ll be able to make the most of, the longer you’ll be capable of maintain high-intensity effort,” says Trevor Thieme, C.S.C.S., BODi’s senior supervisor of health and diet content material.

“In apply, enhancing your VO2 max may translate into a brand new PR in a 10K or having the ability to push your self more durable in a HIIT workout.”

Limiting elements affecting VO2 max

VO2 max is set by what are known as central and peripheral elements, explains USA Monitor & Discipline licensed coach Jason Karp, Ph.D.

Central elements embrace provide aspect features like blood move and cardiac output (i.e., the quantity of blood pumped by the guts per minute).

Peripheral elements characterize the demand aspect, and embrace the quantity of oxygen that muscular tissues can extract from the blood to be used.

“Whereas unfit individuals appear to be equally restricted by central and peripheral elements (they lack each a excessive blood move and plentiful metabolic equipment), extremely skilled runners appear to be extra centrally restricted,” says Karp.

Mainly, he explains, as you turn out to be fitter, every part (coronary heart, lungs, vascular system, and muscular tissues) turns into extra environment friendly at processing, delivering, and extracting oxygen. However there comes some extent at which your muscular tissues’ means to extract oxygen outpaces your coronary heart and lungs’ means to ship it.

How is VO2 Max measured?

Based on Karp, one of the simplest ways to measure VO2 max is in a lab utilizing indirect calorimetry, a check that requires the topic to run or bike at maximal effort whereas carrying a face masks related to an oxygen analyzer. As the topic sprints or pedals, the gear measures the amount of oxygen consumed.

What about wearables? Does the VO2 max perform in your health tracker or working watch really work?

“Watches and wearable tech won’t give somebody a [truly accurate] studying as a result of there’s no manner that know-how can measure how a lot oxygen one consumes when working or biking as quick as one can,” says Karp.

Nonetheless, he provides they will supply a tough estimate and a baseline for enhancing your cardiorespiratory fitness.

Find out how to Improve VO2 Max

When you’re new to exercising and wish to enhance your VO2 max, first deal with rising the amount of aerobic training you do. When you’re a runner, which means making an attempt to extend your weekly mileage.

When you’ve established a stable basis of cardiorespiratory health, shift your focus to additionally embrace rising train depth.

“To extend your VO2 max, you need to train at intensities that meet or exceed your lactate threshold, which you’ll hit at about 80 to 85 p.c of your most coronary heart fee,” says Thieme. Briefly, begin doing shorter, fast-paced exercises. A method to try this is thru high-intensity interval trailing (HIIT).

What Is a Good VO2 Max Quantity?

VO2 max charges fluctuate by age (they are usually increased in youthful populations) and intercourse.

“Males have a better VO2 max than ladies as a result of they’ve a better cardiac output to ship extra blood and oxygen to the muscular tissues, extra hemoglobin of their blood to move oxygen, and extra muscle mass to devour oxygen,” says Karp.

So, sure, males are actually sucking up extra of the oxygen within the room. Whereas elite male athletes can have a VO2 max of greater than 70 ml/kg/min, the charges for many adults in honest to wonderful form fall between 20 and 55 ml/kg/min. Use the desk beneath for wholesome VO2 max ranges in your demographic.

Supply: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research