VO2max — endurance ceiling

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Connected to · 3

synergy · 1

Heart
Maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) is set by three stages: how much blood the heart pumps per minute, how much oxygen the blood carries, and how much oxygen the muscles can extract. Mandsager 2018 looked back at more than 120,000 people who had a treadmill exercise test: the elite-fitness group had about one fifth the all-cause death risk of the lowest-fitness group. This is an association and does not prove that raising fitness adds years.

regulates · 2

Zone 2 training
Setting Zone 2 as a percentage of maximum heart rate has a problem: the 220-minus-age formula is itself off by ±10–12 beats per minute for an individual. So a simple test, being able to speak in full sentences but not sing, is often more reliable than the heart-rate number on your watch.
Interference effect
Skipping cardio for fear of losing muscle is a bad trade. In a cohort of more than 100,000 people, those with low cardiorespiratory fitness had about five times the all-cause death rate of those with high fitness (an observed association), while the interference cardio causes with strength gains is limited and can be managed through training volume.

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What is VO2max

EVIDENCEREVIEW 2 · COHORT 2

READ THE ORIGINAL

(maximal oxygen uptake) is the most oxygen your body can use in a minute — the ceiling on endurance. Getting oxygen from the air to your muscles is a four-leg relay through the lungs, heart, blood, and muscles, and the ceiling is set by the weakest leg. In healthy people, that leg is usually how much blood the heart can pump.

Training can push it up a notch, but how much it rises varies a lot from person to person and runs in families. Training harder and harder does not turn you into a champion.

In large observational studies, people with higher fitness have lower all-cause mortality. That is an association, and it does not prove that training it up will add years to your life. But it is one of the few measures that you can change by training and that is closely linked to lifespan, so it is worth working on.

Educational content, not medical advice — consult a clinician.

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VO2max — endurance ceiling

Story

Connected to · 3

synergy · 1

Heart
Maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) is set by three stages: how much blood the heart pumps per minute, how much oxygen the blood carries, and how much oxygen the muscles can extract. Mandsager 2018 looked back at more than 120,000 people who had a treadmill exercise test: the elite-fitness group had about one fifth the all-cause death risk of the lowest-fitness group. This is an association and does not prove that raising fitness adds years.

regulates · 2

Zone 2 training
Setting Zone 2 as a percentage of maximum heart rate has a problem: the 220-minus-age formula is itself off by ±10–12 beats per minute for an individual. So a simple test, being able to speak in full sentences but not sing, is often more reliable than the heart-rate number on your watch.
Interference effect
Skipping cardio for fear of losing muscle is a bad trade. In a cohort of more than 100,000 people, those with low cardiorespiratory fitness had about five times the all-cause death rate of those with high fitness (an observed association), while the interference cardio causes with strength gains is limited and can be managed through training volume.

Read full story

Stop 1/4

What is VO2max

EVIDENCEREVIEW 2 · COHORT 2

READ THE ORIGINAL

(maximal oxygen uptake) is the most oxygen your body can use in a minute — the ceiling on endurance. Getting oxygen from the air to your muscles is a four-leg relay through the lungs, heart, blood, and muscles, and the ceiling is set by the weakest leg. In healthy people, that leg is usually how much blood the heart can pump.

Training can push it up a notch, but how much it rises varies a lot from person to person and runs in families. Training harder and harder does not turn you into a champion.

In large observational studies, people with higher fitness have lower all-cause mortality. That is an association, and it does not prove that training it up will add years to your life. But it is one of the few measures that you can change by training and that is closely linked to lifespan, so it is worth working on.

Educational content, not medical advice — consult a clinician.