To the Max

A far-too-happy woman getting her VO2 Max test. I guarantee she hasn’t started yet.

I have mentioned VO2 Max a few times in these blogs. It is “maximum rate of oxygen your body is able to use during exercise” and is the direct reflection of your cardiovascular health. The higher the VO2 Max, the better your health.

Elite athletes can have numbers as high as 90 (for men) and in the 77-80 range (for women). Age has a huge influence on these numbers - you lose 10% capacity per decade. So the older you get, the lower your numbers will be regardless of your fitness level.

A low VO2 max has a direct corollary to heart disease. Conversely, a high one lowers the risk of all sorts of diseases as we age.

So, how do you measure this? The actual test is a bit of a doozy - and I had one done a couple weeks ago. You need to get yourself up to your maximum heart rate while breathing into a mask and tube system that measures oxygen levels. The goal is to continue as long as you can, or 12 minutes, whichever comes first.

I had the test done by Matt Clancy at E3 Endurance Training here in Greensboro. He gave me the option of cycling or running. Since I don’t really cycle, I got the treadmill. First I warmed up by jogging lightly for 10 minutes. After calculations based on that warm-up, my age, my goals, my weight, possibly something to do with pi, and my past running history, he came up with the treadmill speeds we would use. Then he took over the treadmill controls and we started.

The first four minutes was a gradual increase in speed. It was fine, easy almost. I thought breathing into the mask would be difficult, but it really wasn’t too bad. Then he started increasing the speed at a faster pace. After about 6 minutes I had trouble only breathing through my nose. Minute 7 and I was sucking air any way I could. Right before minute 8 he told me I’d hit my max heart rate and to try to keep going as long as I could. I was determined to make it to minute 10. After a few seconds decided minute 9 was just as noble a goal. Another few seconds and I decided I’d had just about enough of that, thank you very much, and jumped off the treadmill as instructed.

Essentially, you gradually work up to a full-out sprint and then try to maintain that as long as possible. No mean feat, that, even without the annoyance of the mask. But worth it to know my number.

I’m at 41, which is “excellent” for someone my age. The only level higher is “superior”, which is any number over 45. So, I’ll take 41!

My Apple Watch has been calculating VO2 Max, too. I’m not sure exactly how it does it, but I do know it’s just an educated guess based on heart rate and recovery. It has me at 45, so just a little higher than the “real” test. Knowing that will be very useful, I can use the Watch number going forward to get a slightly high reading of my actual VO2 Max.

So how do you increase your VO2 Max? The simplest way is to lose weight. If you currently don’t exercise, start walking every day. If you do exercise, add more cardio. Run hills. Wear a weighted vest.

Oh - that reminds me of my topic for next week, which is all about wearing weight to workout. See you then!