The Surprising Benefits of VO2 Max

In this episode of the podcast/newsletter we are breaking down a topic that people have probably heard of, but probably not given much thought to or understood why they should care about it. However, this metric is a great overall predictor of health and is directly linked to longevity. We also know the rate at which it declines with age and what your VO2 max needs to be in order to do certain daily activities. Let’s dive in!

VO2 max simply refers to the maximum volume of oxygen you are able to use when exercising intensely. When you are exercising, you are taking in (breathing in) oxygen and breathing out carbon dioxide. A VO2 max test is seeing how much oxygen you are able to use. Another way of thinking of this is how good is your heart at pumping blood through your body, and how good are your muscles at extracting the oxygen from the blood and expelling carbon dioxide. It is a great measure of overall fitness.

To give you an idea of the range of VO2 max numbers, a very fit person in their late 20’s or early 30’s might have a VO2 max in the 60’s. A very unfit person in their late 20’s or early 30’s might only have a VO2 max of 25. To quickly run up flights of stairs, you need to have a VO2 max of 45. To be able to go up stairs slowly, you need a VO2 max of 32. We know that if you are not exercising, your VO2 max will decline at about 10% per decade beginning in your 30’s/40. If you are exercising, you can cut that rate of decline to more like 5-6%.

We discussed 3 ways to boost your VO2 max. The first is Zone 2 cardio (discussed in the Fat burning episode) which can allow you to build more mitochondria and push the heart rate at which you are still preferentially burning fat for fuel higher. A good starting point would be to try to get over 100 minutes per week of pure Zone 2 cardio. The second would be resistance training. There are studies showing resistance training can boost VO2 max even in older individuals. The final way is by doing some periodic Zone 5 cardio where you are going all out for 30 seconds to a minute and then having several minutes of recovery before doing it again. Studies will be linked below.

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Simplified Takeaways…

1. Knowing you VO2 Max number is a valuable tool in tracking your overall level of health.

2. Understand that the number declines with age, but with training you can drastically slow the rate of decline. This is important if you want to still be able to do things like climb stairs as you age.

3. Doing Zone 2 cardio is a great way to increase your VO2 max. This will build the foundation for your VO2 max to grow.

4. Finally, doing resistance training and periodic Zone 5 cardio will also help build your VO2 max.

5. Make it a goal to never let your VO2 Max drop below 30.

Further Reading…

1.  Study showing resistance training can boost VO2 max

2.   Graph showing rate of VO2 Max decline with age

3.  Study showing certain cardiovascular exercise can boost VO2 Max

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