What Is VO2 Max?: How to Calculate Your VO2 Max and Improve It for Peak Performance
For those unfamiliar, VO2 max might sound like the latest performance-enhancing supplement, but it’s actually the term used to describe your body’s maximum oxygen uptake during aerobic exercise. If you're aiming to improve your running, swimming, cycling times, or even extend your lifespan – this is something you’ll want to pay attention to.
VO2 max is the gold standard for measuring cardiovascular fitness. You may have seen elite athletes being tested on treadmills, hooked up to machines to gauge theirs. But this measurement isn’t exclusive to those at peak performance. Anyone can calculate and improve their VO2 max to enjoy the benefits. Here’s our ultimate guide to VO2 max, so you can unlock better fitness, health, and longevity.
What is VO2 Max?
VO2 max measures the maximum amount of oxygen your body can utilise during intense exercise. It represents your cardiovascular and respiratory fitness, reflecting how efficiently your heart, lungs, and muscles work together to use oxygen. Often regarded as the best indicator of aerobic capacity, VO2 max is widely used to assess overall cardiovascular fitness.
According to physiotherapist and author Simon Hill, VO2 max is 'the amount of oxygen we can utilise per millilitre, per minute, per kilogram of body weight. We use oxygen, of course, to produce ATP and energy. The higher our cardiorespiratory fitness, the higher our VO2 max.'
What Are the Benefits of Increasing My VO2 Max?
Improved longevity
According to research published by JAMA Network, better cardiorespiratory fitness is inversely associated with long-term mortality, with no upper limit to its benefits. In fact, extremely high aerobic fitness was linked to the greatest survival rates. Another study found no increased risk associated with extreme fitness levels, while being unfit posed a greater risk than any of the cardiac risk factors analysed.
Reduced risk of illness and disease
A study published in Circulation supports the notion that engaging in moderate physical activity has significant benefits for heart health. Participants who exercised moderately for 150 to 299 minutes per week showed a 19% to 25% lower risk of cardiovascular disease mortality compared to those who did not.
Endurance and performance
Improving our VO2 max will also improve our endurance and performance efforts. Evidence published in Preventive Cardiology found that a greater and significant increase of VO2 max enabled us to train for longer.
How to Improve VO2 Max?
There are many ways to improve your VO2 max, but the underlying principle for improving your fitness levels is progressive overload — just like with lifting weights. To achieve this, you will need to gradually increase the duration, intensity, or frequency of your training sessions as they become easier and you adapt over time. It's best to start with a form of cardiovascular training you enjoy, whether it be brisk walking, running, swimming, cycling, rucking, hiking, or other forms of movement, and then increase the intensity and duration from there.
The benefits of improving your VO2 max aren't reserved solely for the top athletes. 'We're not asking everyone to be elite athletes,' says Hill. 'What I find incredibly promising and empowering is that just going from low to average will halve your risk of death and cardiovascular disease...Researchers have looked at what it would take to do that, to get from low to average. You'll be shocked – it's simply in line with what the recommendations are. That's 150 minutes a week of moderate intensity exercise.'
Adults are advised to engage in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise each week. How you break that up is entirely up to you, allowing flexibility to fit your schedule and preferences. According to the University of Colorado Sports Medicine, "aerobic training three to five days per week will improve your cardiovascular fitness." However, recent evidence suggests that even if you're short on time during the week, consolidating your 150 minutes into weekend sessions can still provide a wide range of health benefits.
How Is VO2 Max Calculated?
The most precise way to test your VO2 max is through a lactate threshold test, which is conducted in a laboratory or local performance testing centre.
You can estimate your VO2 max calculation by doing a bleep test. Also known as the shuttle run test, the bleep test is a common method for estimating VO2 max.
Here’s how to conduct the bleep test and use it to estimate your VO2 max. You'll need:
A flat, straight course, 20 metres in length
A tape measure to mark the distance
A bleep test app, recording or stopwatch
How to Do a Bleep Test
Warm up: this could be a light jog to get your heart rate up
Set up: mark a distance of 20 metres on a flat surface
Start: begin the test by standing behind one of the markers. Start the bleep test app or use a stopwatch to begin
Run: when the first bleep sounds, sprint to the other marker (20 metres away) and touch the line before the next bleep sounds. Wait for the next bleep, then sprint back to the starting line
Repeat: repeat this process. The bleeps will get closer together as you pass through each level. The speed at which you have to complete the shuttle runs will have to increase to meet them in time.
Finish: the test continues until you can no longer reach the marker before the bleep sounds, or you feel you cannot continue. Push yourself, this will be challenging. Don't push beyond feelings of pain that aren't associated with normal discomfort during training.
Record your score: record the last completed level and shuttle before you fail to reach the marker in time. For example, if you completed level 5 and 3 shuttles, your score would be 5.3.
Calculating your VO2 Max
You can estimate your VO2 max using a formula based on your bleep test results. A commonly used formula is:
VO2 max (ml/kg/min)=31.025+(3.238×level)−(0.156×age)+(0.503×shuttles)
For example, if you are 25 years old and completed level 6 and 5 shuttles:
Level: 6
Shuttles: 5
Age: 25
Plug these values into the formula:
VO2 max=31.025+(3.238×6)−(0.156×25)+(0.503×5)
This would give you a VO2 max estimate of approximately 49.07 ml/kg/min.
What Is a Good VO2 Max for My Age?
Now you can measure your results against the following averages. Here are some typical VO2 max measures from the ASCM:
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