VO2 max is a measurement of the maximum amounts of oxygen that a body can utilize during period of intense physical effort. VO2 max is an important metric because VO2 max indicates how well the heart, the lungs, and the muscle work together to process oxygen. When you perform intense exercise, your body require oxygen to produce energy, and your VO2 max determine the limit of that oxygen usage.
VO2 max is often used as a standard measure of aerobic capacity, and VO2 max can be used to understand your level of fitness relative to other people. Fitness is not a simple state of being fit or unfit, but fitness exist on a spectrum. Many people use percentile charts to see where their VO2 max falls in relation to their age and gender.
What VO2 Max Is and How to Improve It
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These charts allows a person to see if their VO2 max is in an average, superior, or low range. Understanding your VO2 max percentile is helpful because knowing your VO2 max percentile helps you set realistic goal for your physical training. Age has a significant impact on VO2 max, because VO2 max naturaly decline as a person gets older.
For many people, a decline in VO2 max begin after the age of twenty-five, and this decline can become more noticeable every ten years if a person does not engage in regular exercise. However, the rate of decline in VO2 max is not the same for everyone. A person who perform regular aerobic training can maintain a higher VO2 max than a person who is sedentary, even if the active person is older than the sedentary person.
To increase your VO2 max, you must change how you train, because moderate activity is often not enough to increase your VO2 max. Many people perform moderate exercise, but moderate exercise may only maintain your current level of fitness rather than increase your VO2 max. To increase your VO2 max, you must introduce high intensity interval training. High intensity interval training forces your cardiovascular system to adapt to higher demands, and these higher demands results in a higher VO2 max over time. You should also combine high intensity interval training with low intensity, steady state exercise, because low intensity, steady state exercise builds a foundation for the high intensity training.
Body weight is also a factor in your VO2 max score, because VO2 max is measured relative to your body mass. If your body mass is high, your relative VO2 max may appear lower because your body must use more oxygen to move more mass. If you reduce your body mass through nutrition and exercise, your relative VO2 max will likely increase because there is less mass to move for each unit of oxygen used.
You can measure your VO2 max using several different method. A clinical laboratory test is the most accurate way to measure VO2 max, but moddern wearable devices also provide estimate of your VO2 max. You can also use field tests, such as a timed run, to estimate your VO2 max. The specific method you use is less important than the trend of your VO2 max, because tracking the trend of your VO2 max show whether your aerobic capacity is increasing or decreasing over time. High aerobic fitness is a strong predictor of longevity, and high aerobic fitness is associated with a long and healthy life.
Maintaining a high VO2 max is important for your long term health, and maintaining a high VO2 max help you to move with ease as you age. Thus, you should focus on consistent training and intensity to manage your VO2 max throughout your life.
