Official vo2 Max Thread
Has anyone here (e.g., @whlinder ) ever had their vo2 max checked "professionally" so to speak?
I never have, personally. But I was farting around with some crude Peleton and C2 metrics. Mine seems to be around 53 - 57 ish range which is like 98 or 99th percentile for my age.
#RowPeterPufferSkrong
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I don’t even know what VO2 max is
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Yes. I did at a lifetime fitness like a decade or more ago. Had the mask on and ran as fast as I could on a treadmill. I forget the results but was definitely top 10% for my age at the time.
Maybe I can dig it up if I ever clean out the shit that accrues when you live in the same place for a while.
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No. Never even heard of it until reading about it on this board.
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it’s the metric for measuring cardiovascular fitness.
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Tied to VO2 max is heart rate based exercise, where knowing your actual heart rate zones to guide your training is really beneficial. It’s the whole idea behind places like Orange Theory. Train in different zones for different purposes where your body reacts differently to each of them.
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It's also considered one of the best (or the best) metrics (strength being a close #2) for predicting lifespan/longevity.
One of my favorite Dr. Peter Attia-isms is that people need to quit majoring in the "minor" and focus in the "major". In other words, it's a waste of time to be arguing all this diet shit- e.g., keto, carnivore, Mediterranean, etc, if your vo2 max house isn't in order first.
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The Concept 2 calculator (and I guess underlying study) drives me nuts since it was based on national team members which is then used to determine highly trained vs not highly trained.
In the study, "Highly trained" was used for elite, national team and top college rowers. "Not highly trained" was used for novices who had little to no rowing experience.
If you fall somewhere in between, chose the group that you feel most closely resembles your own level of training.
No one is on the national team over age 40 so how does that apply to those age ranges. I have no earthly idea how to pick between the two options. I am not training like a top college rower but I sure as hell am not training like a novice.
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I have been thinking about VO2 max since this popped up and just came across this article and thought i'd share.
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BTW anyone who isn't aware of Archive.IS this site is $. Works for a ton of paywalls….
https://archive.is/
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Fartleks are super beneficial. It's basically the different heart rate zone training I mentioned before but without all the precision. Also very similar to High intensity interval Training (HiiT).
When I was my fittest at running I would do those all the time. Still mix into my runs picking up the pace to a landmark and then backing off. But nothing with the breath measurement etc.
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XC Mt Biking provide a lot of Fartlek type work.
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Dried apricots seem to get me in the fartlek zone pretty easy.
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I don't run, hoss. I've gotta measure this off Peleton or C2 . But still chick Huberman is on point with the metric.
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I am quite intrigued on the measurement being based on different activities, given the vastly different abilities someone with a great VO2 max can have between between rowing, biking and running. Not to mention swimming, skiing etc. I guess the real way is a test while doing your best activity, and the approximations are off of other people who tested using their VO2 output and exercise performance?
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I would suspect a rower with a great vo2 max who was a slow runner would still show up great on a treadmill. vo2 max measure how much o2 one can consumer vs speed.
People forget that during the UW Crew Turkey Trot races, I'd finish in the bottom 25% but my C2 scores were always in the top 25% or higher.
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That combined metric screams under-performer, champ.
How does skiing at altitude affect a V02 measure?
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Hardly, bud. The fastest XC runners would get killed on C2 vs a 6'6" high level rowers. It's physics.
I have no idea on skiing. I've heard though erging at 3761 ft (my house) gets you about 3% discount time wise so I got that going for me!!
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I liked this article which adds some context around absolute VO2 Max (irrespective of weight) and relative VO2 Max (using weight as a denominator). Xcuntry skiers end up higher on relative. Rowers higher on absolute.
your VO2 max when kayaking will be smaller than when you’re running, for example, because you’re using smaller muscles that can’t gobble up as much oxygen.
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Hence why the C2 is the single more useful fitness machine ever invented. Nothing else can touch it for getting all the muscle groups (except chest) to start gobbling up oxygen.
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Mrs. Feces is trying to get me to drop $2k on a peloton. I’m sure I’d use it, but that’s a lot of coin, and I have a lot of mouths to feed.
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Just get the Peloton app (monthly subscription) and buy a cheap ass exercise bike or treadmill.
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It's a useful tool but spendy as Throbber points out. It will take care of increasing your vo2 max, but it's not helpful for strength.
The only machine that will do both vo2 max and add some strength is a C2 rowing machine.
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My shitty back would probably benefit greatly from a rowing machine.
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I used to get weird sciatic nerve flares just above my hip that would literally make my legs collapse from the pain. Was an issue that would randomly occur a couple times a year from about 18 to 30. I've not had that happen one time in the 13 years since I started lifting weights.
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vo2 max + strength trumps all the other shit we talk about on this forum and it's not close.
I lost 4 to5 lbs during the 100,000 Concept 2 Holiday Challenge.
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Been thinking a bit more about VO2 max and cardio exercise as I go forward in 2025. Want to be more "intentional" with my cardio this year as while I did plenty last year there was too much just doing it to do it instead of trying to build to better. Doing cardio just to do it is fine, blood sugar management, something is better than nothing etc., but doesn't really move you forward past a certain point. It made me remember that VO2 max is an outcome of exercise and you actually have to push with various workout structures (fartlek, HiiT, other interval training, harder steady state) to really benefit beyond that baseline.
Something is still better than nothing, but that is loss prevention, not improvement.
I too lost a couple pounds when I upped the volume and intensity on the C2 after Thanksgiving. Keeping it going this month so far.
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Seems like the top Tour De France riders are doing massive amount of zone 2 training these days and the results are showing up in their vo2 max scores.
I'm going to experiment with upping the zone 2 hours per week (80%) and then 20% max effort type work and see if I notice any gains.
