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Importance of improving your VO2 max

For Example: My next 20 years… • 10km run under 40 minutes


• Play a full game of recreational basketball


• Swim 750m in under 15 min


• MIN 5 plates for Deads, 3 plates for Squats, and 2 plates for Bench


• Play whatever spot/activity with my future kid. Whatever your physical standards are, you’ll need to improve your VO2 max if we want to achieve the highest quality of life physically… It WILL get harder as we age. Cardio • Some of the changes of aging start as early as the third decade of life. After age 25-30, for example, the average person’s maximum attainable heart rate declines by about one beat per minute, per year, and the heart’s peak capacity to pump blood drifts down by 5%-10% per decade. - Harvard Study 2014Everything becomes less efficient, unless we train it. Similar to how we need to stress the muscle in order to build it, we need to stress our cardiovascular system if we want to have a better cardiovascular efficiency. If lifestyle has you doing more sitting, less walking, not doing any forms of cardio, it will not progressA not so fun fact: Most common way we go out is from Cardiovascular Disease…Types of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) • Atherosclerosis: plaque build up inside the walls of the arteries 


• Coronary Artery Disease: atherosclerosis in coronary arteries


• Congestive Heart Failure: heart doesn’t work as well as it used to


• Heart Valve Disease: stenosis, regurgination, etc.


• Cardiomyopathy: weakened muscle tissues reducing pumping ability


• Heart Arrhythmia: heart beats too fast or too slow.Surprise suprise! Turns out one of the best ways to combat and minimize this is to exercise and to train.What metric is most important for cardiovascular longevity? VO2 Max: Maximum volume of oxygen your body can utilise


• Maximum rate of oxygen your muscles can extract oxygen from your blood and put metabolic use to generate energy


• As you breathe in oxygen, your lungs absorb and turn it into energy called adenosine triphosphate (ATP)


• The stronger your VO2 max, the more robust you will be.If someone is low on energy… it’s very rare that they are high on VO2 maxActual Fun Fact: Simply bringing your VO2 max from low (bottom 25th percentile) to below average (25th to 50th percentile) is associated with a 50% reduction in all-cause mortality. When you go from low to above average (50th to 75th percentile) the risk reduction is closer to 70%How to test VO2Max (can find this online and not limited to other tests)Non Exercise Test - www.worldfitnesslevel.org/#/ • Age


• Gender


• Weight


• Height


• Max HR


• Resting HR


• Exercise frequency and intensity


• Waist circumferenceNot super accurate… as most measurements are, but it’s a good place to start.Rockport 1 Mile Walk Test - www.exrx.net/Calculators/Rockport • Age


• Gender


• Weight


• Ending HR after walking



I recommend this when you’ve been training for awhile (subjective to you) • Bodyweight


• Gender


• Experience level



• Distance (you can pick your distance, and run it as fast as you can)


• TimeIf you’re a runner or would like to get into running. Here’s a plan you can try to improve your VO2 Max:First perform the ‘Distance Run Test’Then, for 4 weeks straight…Perform running Intervals:Monday: 3 mile medium pace


Wednesday: 5 mile medium pace


Friday: 7 mile medium pace


Sunday: recovery 2 mile After 4 weeks. Retest the ‘Distance Run Test’What research recommends us doing?Train


• Do more - increase baseline


• Zone 2 Cardio 65-75% Max Heart Rate


• Go Harder - Increase IntensitiesHow do we determine our maximum heart rate?220 - Age = Estimated Max HRSo… If I want to do Zone 2 Cardio. I would subtract 27 (my age) from 220 = 193 Then multiply by 0.75 (from 75% heart rate) = 144.75 Once I get my heart rate within that range, that’s when my cardio session STARTSZone 2 cardio plan you can use to improve VO2max:Disclaimer: if you go past 75% of you max heart rate, that’s when cardiac drift occurs (exceeding) - Keep it within range (drop the intensity if you have to) BUT it’s not the end of the world if you get to Zone 3 if it’s within the last 10 min of your workout.Week 1: 


3x a week 20-40 min 65-75% MHRWeek 2: 


3x a week 30-60 min 65-75% MHRWeek 3:


4x a week 30-40 min 65-75% MHRWeek 4:


4x a week 30-60 min 65-75% MHRFind a machine or activity you enjoy and can do at 65-75% MHRObviously there are nuances to this where theres some variablities that would have to change based on your current fitness goals, fitness level, training age, and lifestyle demands (time)Fun fact: if you want to lose fat.. Zone 2 cardio would be highly beneficial to compliment your weight training. Frequency of 1-2x a week is a good start, if you’re not sure how much you should be doing, ask your coach ;)


If your goal is to build muscle… you bet your ass you should look into improving your VO2max. Improving your VO2max can lead to you training harder, for a lot longer, AND recover faster. In conclusion…If we really want to be healthy, the number one thing we should be fighting is CVD. How do we fight it? By having a high and strong VO2Max.Title: Importance of improving your VO2 max


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Book a free consultation with Coach Johngie and improve your VO2 Max today.

 
 
 

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