So what's the beef with this VO2Max thingamajigie? You constantly hear or read about it in sporting journals, or mentioned during any endurance sport-related writeup. From a layman's standpoint, whatever it is, if you have high levels of it, you must be good! I first heard of it when reading anything on Lance Armstrong's training regimen. They kept on saying that he had unusually high levels of it.
So after several years, that "thing" that sounds like a brand of a PC videocard suddenly took on a greater relevance for me since I have started running. I became curious. What's does it do? What is it exactly? Can I improve on it? I did some research on the subject matter, and this what I learned.
It turns out, VO2 max is a measure of the maximum volume of oxygen that an athlete can use, and is measured in mililitres per kilogram of body weight. Quite simply, when you increase your effort when exercising, the amount of oxygen needed to produce energy also increases. Turns out however that there's a maximum level of oxygen consumption, which when breached would no longer lead to increases in oxygen usage. As it is, it's generally considered the best indicator of cardiorespiratory endurance and aerobic fitness. However, as we’ll discuss in a moment, it is more useful as an indicator of a person's aerobic potential or upper limit than as a predictor of success in endurance events.
Apparently, there are differing schools of thought on Vo2 max. Some think it is a core element which should be improved upon if you wish to achieve your maximum physical ability. On the flipside, some researchers believe it is merely a measure of of one's oxygen usage at maximum energy output. They hazard that it is not the critical factor which determines performance; but more of a consequence of other limiting factors. Whatever the reasoning may be, at the very least we can be sure that it's a definitive measure of exercise intensity at one's oxygen plateau.
Ok, so what more can we get with this Vo2 thing? How can you even know what yours is? There are several methods, one of which is to calculate from your races. A formula was given, but I got super confused -
VO2 Max=(-4.60 + 0.182258 * velocity + 0.000104 * velocity^2)/(0.8 + 0.1894393 * e^(-0.012778 * time) + 0.2989558 * e^(-0.1932605 * time))
If you could make something out of that, congratulations!
So can we actually improve on our VO2 max? It seems a fair share of it is determined by our genes, but training can improve it by 5-20%.
How do I compare with the general population?
Female (ml/kg/min)
| Age | Very Poor | Poor | Fair | Good | Excellent | Superior |
| 13-19 | <25.0 | 25.0 - 30.9 | 31.0 - 34.9 | 35.0 - 38.9 | 39.0 - 41.9 | >41.9 |
| 20-29 | <23.6 | 23.6 - 28.9 | 29.0 - 32.9 | 33.0 - 36.9 | 37.0 - 41.0 | >41.0 |
| 30-39 | <22.8 | 22.8 - 26.9 | 27.0 - 31.4 | 31.5 - 35.6 | 35.7 - 40.0 | >40.0 |
| 40-49 | <21.0 | 21.0 - 24.4 | 24.5 - 28.9 | 29.0 - 32.8 | 32.9 - 36.9 | >36.9 |
| 50-59 | <20.2 | 20.2 - 22.7 | 22.8 - 26.9 | 27.0 - 31.4 | 31.5 - 35.7 | >35.7 |
| 60+ | <17.5 | 17.5 - 20.1 | 20.2 - 24.4 | 24.5 - 30.2 | 30.3 - 31.4 | >31.4 |
Male (values in ml/kg/min)
| Age | Very Poor | Poor | Fair | Good | Excellent | Superior |
| 13-19 | <35.0 | 35.0 - 38.3 | 38.4 - 45.1 | 45.2 - 50.9 | 51.0 - 55.9 | >55.9 |
| 20-29 | <33.0 | 33.0 - 36.4 | 36.5 - 42.4 | 42.5 - 46.4 | 46.5 - 52.4 | >52.4 |
| 30-39 | <31.5 | 31.5 - 35.4 | 35.5 - 40.9 | 41.0 - 44.9 | 45.0 - 49.4 | >49.4 |
| 40-49 | <30.2 | 30.2 - 33.5 | 33.6 - 38.9 | 39.0 - 43.7 | 43.8 - 48.0 | >48.0 |
| 50-59 | <26.1 | 26.1 - 30.9 | 31.0 - 35.7 | 35.8 - 40.9 | 41.0 - 45.3 | >45.3 |
| 60+ | <20.5 | 20.5 - 26.0 | 26.1 - 32.2 | 32.3 - 36.4 | 36.5 - 44.2 | >44.2 |
What is the VO2 max of elite athletes?
Here is a sample of measured VO2 max for selected athletes.
| Athlete | Event | VO2 Max |
| Bjorn Daehlie | Cross country skier | 90.0 |
| Miguel Indurain | Cyclist (winner of Tour de France) | 88.0 |
| John Ngugi | 5 times world cross country champ | 85.0 |
| Dave Bedford | 10km World Record holder | 85.0 |
| Steve Prefontaine | 1 mile in 3:54.6 | 84.4 |
| Lance Armstrong | Cyclist (winner of Tour de France) | 84.0 |
| Joan Benoit | Marathon runner (2:24:52) | 78.6 |
| Bill Rodgers | Marathon runner (2:09:27) | 78.5 |
| Sebastian Coe | Middle distance (1 mile WR) | 77.0 |
| Grete Waitz | Marathon runner (WR 1980) | 73.0 |
| Frank Shorter | Marathon runner | 71.0 |
| Derek Clayton | Marathon runner (WR 1969) | 69.7 |
So there, after reading all of that, I still am a little iffy on the topic, maybe because I'm not a numbers guy. And I still think that if you have more of it, that's a good thing! :) I hope you guys got something out of it though! Tell me what you think!
huwwwwatttt?!?!? the number made hilo pare. i need to take bonamine. wehehehee
Make the two bonamine for me Rod hahaha :)
I agree on that part of it being a measure of potential but not a predictor of performance....and yes medyo nahilo rin ako :-)
Haha Boss.... maybe that's why I got into Corporate Communications and not, um, Applied Math? :P But wait... you're an Economics guy.... does that mean their formula is bordering on rocket science? hahahaha.
this is soooo scientific... I could probably relate on the chemistry part sort of combustion thing in our Chemical Engineering Days...
4HC (our fat) + 5O2 (what we inhale) ---> 4CO2 (what we exhale) + 2H20 (sweat)
bow!
Lol Argo! Wow we have a chemical engineer pala dito!Big time!
gusto ko lang maging top... nice post pare!!! nyahahaha
Hahahahaha laugh trip ka ROd LOL Gingermaniac :P
Comment on ebreeteeng - nice page you heb here Luis! I like the moving stuff! And the V02 article (what kind of training would you hav eto go through then to improve that?!?).
I'm not hilo like the rest of them. Hehe
Hey you should run 5K -- if you really wanna know your top, best speed. =) Make it short and sweet.
I will come back for more hits... =) Thanks for the link to your site!
English please! huh!
I'm confused Luis, what video card sounds like VO2 max? Is it nvidia or radeon? If I upgrade my video card would this make me run faster?
Hahahahaa lol Natzzzzzzz "P
hahaha! Joke lang...
VO2 max yung pang nag all-out ka sa 5K race sa bandang ending, sprinting the last 400 to 800meters na di ka na makahinga. kasi na Max-out na ang VO2 mo. hehehe.
Hey do you remember our race in ATC? After that I could run a lot faster in my daily runs. I think serious racing boosts our VO2 max. But it could also tire our legs a lot. Maybe we could do a serious race once a month to get fitter and also to benchmark ourselves.
I felt the exact same way Natz! However, my legs were pretty messed up after that as well! Not in terms of pain, but in terms of endurance. I think that inadvertently affected my half-mary the following weekend. I wanna go for it again though!
hi luis, i'm kinda late checking this entry, but thanks, i learned that i need to improve my vo2max. i'm 32yo and my vo2max (per rw) last earthrun was 25.6. very poor according to the table above. need to train further and lose the some more weight. thanks again!
Hey sir Luis, I just stumbled upon this interesting site where you can enter your previous race time and then it calculates your V02 max.
http://www.runningforfitness.org/calc/vo2.php