Vo2 max

 

 

VO2 max- also maximal oxygen consumption, maximal oxygen uptake, peak oxygen uptake or maximal aerobic capacity.

 

 

It is is the maximum rate of oxygen consumption measured during incremental exercise.

 

 

The name is derived from three abbreviations: “V” for volume, “O2” for oxygen, and “max” for maximum.

 

 

The measurement of VO2 max provides a quantitative value of endurance fitness for comparison of individual training effects and between people in endurance training. 

 

 

VO2 max is measured in milliliters of oxygen consumed in one minute, per kilogram of body weight (mL/kg/min). 

 

 

The maximum oxygen consumption reflects cardiorespiratory fitness and endurance capacity in exercise performance. 

 

 

Elite athletes can achieve VO2 max values exceeding 80 mL/(kg·min).

 

 

It is widely used as an indicator of cardiorespiratory fitness. 

 

 

The lactate threshold refers to a point during exercise where lactate builds up faster than your it can expelled.

 

 

The lactate threshold is recognized by burning or cramping feeling, and is 

 

reached  at about 50 to 80% of your VO2 max.

 

 

VO2 max  measurement  requires expensive clinical equipment, which is reserved for elite and professional athletes. 

 

 

VO2 max is measured as increased exercise intensity until  oxygen consumption remains steady despite an increase in intensity. 

 

 

Subsequently when a plateau is reached 

 

the body moves from aerobic metabolism to anaerobic metabolism.

 

 

It is at this point that workload plateaus and muscle fatigue sets in. 

 

 

VO2 max differs based on age, gender, fitness level and outside factors like altitude.

 

 

The average sedentary (inactive) male achieves a VO2 max of about 35 to 40 mL/kg/min, and the average sedentary female scores approximately 27 to 30 mL/kg/min.

 

 

Elite male runners have shown VO2 maxes of up to 85 mL/kg/min, and elite female runners have scored up to 77 mL/kg/min.

 

 

 High-intensity interval training is one of the best ways to improve VO2 max. 

 

 

VO2 max is expressed either as an absolute rate in liters of oxygen per minute (L/min) or as a relative rate in millilitres of oxygen per kilogram of body mass per minute.

 

 

The necessity to exert maximum effort in order to accurately measure VO2 max can be dangerous in those with compromised respiratory or cardiovascular systems.

 

 

The factors affecting VO2 are often related to supply  of oxygen from the lungs to the mitochondria and include lung diffusion, cardiac stroke volume, blood volume, and capillary density of the skeletal muscle.

 

 

VO2 max is affected by the demand rate at which the mitochondria can reduce oxygen in the process of oxidative phosphorylation.

 

 

VO2 max is affected  by age, gender, fitness, training, and altitude, cardiac output, pulmonary diffusion capacity, oxygen carrying capacity, and the peripheral limitations of muscle diffusion capacity, mitochondrial enzymes, and capillary density.

 

 

If anyone of thee above factors is sub-par, then the whole system loses its normal capacity to function properly.

 

 

The drug erythropoietin (EPO) can boost VO2 max by a significant amount.