What makes some runners faster than others? What separates elite runners from recreational runners? The answer could lie in the concept of VO2max. Watch this video to understand the concept of VO2max.
Some of the factors that determine your VO2max are:
1. Age
With age, there is a progressive decline in contractility, efficiency and resistance to fatigue of the heart as well as skeletal muscles. You also lose muscle mass as you age, which limits your ability to produce force.
2. Sex
Women have lower VO2max values than men due to higher body fat content, smaller muscle mass as well as lower energy generation capacity in the muscles.
3. Change in altitude
As one increases in altitude, the barometric pressure and oxygen content of the air decrease. This means you breathe less oxygen, leading to a drop in VO2max.
4. Fitness and training
VO2max is unique to each individual and based on your genetic background. Average athletes can have a VO2max between 35 and 45. It is possible to increase your VO2max but not by much. Healthy people, who train with a structured training program to improve their endurance, can expect to improve their VO2max at any age. The increase in VO2max is approximately 10-15% over the baseline or initial value of a reasonably trained athlete. This percentage increase occurs regardless of your age when you start training.
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The gold standard for measuring VO2max is to have the athlete run on a treadmill starting at a comfortable pace and then increasing the pace in stages until the athlete can no longer carry one. During this time, measurements are taken of heart rate, inhaled oxygen and exhaled carbon dioxide using a face mask. This is a time-consuming and expensive test that must be performed in a laboratory under the supervision of qualified test administrators.
The alternative is to do submaximal tests, that is, where the athlete does not need to push the heart rate to the maximum. There are many ways to measure VO2max, including:
1. Vo2max at rest and maximum heart rate.
Measure your resting heart rate (RHR) by checking your wrist pulse and calculate your maximum heart rate (MHR) using one of two formulas;
HR max 220 – age; assume 70
Maximum HR 205.8 – (0.685 x age); assume 180
Your VO2max is estimated at 15 x (MHR / RHR)
The example above would give the VO2max as follows: 15 x (180/70) 38.5 ml/kg/min
2. 12 Minute Cooper Test
Warm up with a brisk walk for 10 minutes. Now use a course that is a loop (you can use a 400m running track loop) or use a treadmill. Start your timer and jog/run at your best effort level, so that after 12 minutes of running you are completely exhausted and your heart rate is near maximum. Measure the distance traveled.
VO2max (22.35 x kilometers) – 11.29
If you covered a distance of 2 km, then VO2max 22.35 x 2.2 – 11.29 37.8 ml/kg/min
Of the two tests above, Cooper's test is much more accurate with a 10% variation. However, if the formula was changed to VO2max (21.09 x kilometers) – 11.04, the error is less than 5%, as shown in a 2015 study of athletes.
There are now wearable GPS watches configured to calculate VO2max using various empirical formulas.
VO2max is a good measure of your aerobic fitness level and can help define where you stand relative to other runners or what type of potential you possess as an endurance athlete. You can use it to measure your training progress over the years and to improve your performance.
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We also recommend that you consult:
What is cadence? : https://www.youtube.com/watch?vG3jShyirVlA
What is the lactate threshold? : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v-gSzua5i6h8
What is Stride? : https://www.youtube.com/watch?vVhAIM0EBubw
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