What is VO2 max, how is it relevant for runners and is it trainable?
- The best athletes in the world have a very high VO2 max, but what does it mean and can you train to get a high VO2 max as well?
- Your VO2 max does not tell the whole story unless it is contextualised by lean muscle mass and weight to give a relative score compared to your size and composition
The most famous endurance athletes in the world have a jaw-droppingly high VO2 max. While the big numbers sound impressive, what does it actually mean?
It stands for Volume O2 (oxygen) maximum – which means the maximum amount of oxygen a person can use during exercise. The numbers assigned are measurements of millilitres of oxygen per minute.
That might just sound like a fancy way of saying how fit you are, but in reality fitness has many variables that can effect your performance.
VO2 max is referring to one aspect of fitness, it is somewhat fixed by your genetics (though this is debated) and is relative to things like your age, weight and muscle mass. While it is a predictor of your potential, it won’t automatically translate into good or bad performances without the accompanying training.
What is a good VO2 max?