What is VO2 max?

Endurance athletes are a strange bunch. We run around in tights from workout to workout chasing races from Australia to beautiful Stony Plain, Alberta. We spend more money on our bikes then our cars and feel we need 4 different types of running shoes for all our different training occasions. We also speak in a different language using words like fartlek, threshold, tempo, steady state and VO2max.

Understanding VO2 max.

We hear the term VO2 max often but what does it mean and does it affect performance.

The simple answers are VO2 max is the highest rate of oxygen consumption attainable during maximal or exhaustive exercise. The amount of oxygen demanded changes depending on the amount of work being done. In our case the faster we run (or ride our bikes), the increased demands there is to take in and use more oxygen. As our work (effort) increases then we have an increased demand in our working muscles for oxygen. We start to breathe heavily and do everything we can to supply the working muscles enough oxygen to continue working.

The question of, "how fit are you"? can be answered with a VO2 max number. (Below is some VO2 max scores that will be of interest). Yes it can affect performance. All elite runners have a high VO2 because they train often and secondly they were born with it. Yes genetics do play a big role in your VO2 and there is little you can do about it. Research says that with training we can improve our VO2 by about 30 – 35%, something we can still shoot for and it is very worthwhile health and performance wise.

VO2 max can also be labelled aerobic power, aerobic capacity, cardiorespiratory fitness, and maximal oxygen uptake.  All terms can be used interchangeably with VO2 max.

On average women have a lower VO2 max score by about 30% to men due to lower hemoglobin (carrier of oxygen) levels and a higher body fat percentage.

Samples of VO2 max scores

Some crazy fit cross country skier 94ml/kg/min

Greg LeMond, pro cyclist 92.5

Miguel Indurain, pro cyclist 88

Steve Prefontaine long distance runner 84.4

Lance Armstrong, "lance" 84

Paul Tichelaar, "local hero" 74

Aerobic Power Coach (BT) 68

Elite Runner Female 50-75

Sedentary Man 40

Sedentary Woman 34

At every elite level a lot more comes into play then just VO2 but for our purposes the belief is that if we can improve VO2 then we will improve our racing times. 70% of all race times can be attributed to someone’s VO2 max.

Two big players in our VO2 max that contribute to a high VO2max.

1. a strong oxygen transport system, which includes a powerful heart, hemoglobin-packed blood, high blood volume, and the ability of the muscles to use the supplied oxygen (high capillary density in the muscles, and high mitochondrial density within the muscle cells).

2. Speed or the capacity to contract a large number of muscle fibers simultaneously. 

Here is how we can improve our VO2 max.

1. Go back in time and hand pick a long distance runner and an Olympic cross country skier as your parents.

2. Train at all intensities. Just training at one high end intensity is no the way to improve your VO2max. Within APTS we have our raw speed VO2 development days but it also involves the "tempo" runs and even the easy runs help with aerobic efficiency……which helps our overall VO2.

- Sample workouts that will help.

- 30 secs hard 30 secs jog. Repeat ten times.

- 60 sec hills. Repeat 6-8 times.

- 3 x 800m, 3 x 1200m, 3 x 800m.

Simply any workout that really gets you breathing HARD will directly improve your overall fitness. That is the nuts and bolts explanation.

We get fascinated over VO2 scores but I wouldn’t worry about them too much. In January we will do the six minute test which can be used to predict ones VO2 max.

The plans that you are doing are built to build your fitness (VO2) and tolerance to a faster race speed. Then on race day you will have the confidence and fitness to achieve your best on the day.

Don’t forget the health and wellness part of this discussion. The fitter we are, the healthier we are. Even in kids, the higher the fitness levels are in kids, the healthier they are with blood pressure, body weight, etc.

Any questions let me know.

Run Hard. 

Coach Brian