Saturday, November 3, 2012

NHBPM #3

Saturday, November 3. "I don't know about this, but I'd like to."

VO2 max

VO2 max is the the maximum capacity of an individual's body to transport and use oxygen during incremental exercise, which reflects the physical fitness of the individual. That is a direct quote from Wikipedia. I don't understand it enough to put it into my own words. If I tried to further describe how it is measured and calculate, I'd be even more confused.

What I do understand: the more fit you are, the higher your VO2 max is. Super fit athletes and Iditarod racing dogs have a very high VO2 max...but the dogs' are more than double even the greatest athletes.

I've read about some informal testing methods based on running, where basically the faster you can run, the higher your VO2 max will be be. But there's got to be more to it than that, since running speed is not totally dependent on cardiovascular fitness. Some people are just faster than others, regardless of fitness. Sure, they'll get faster if they get fitter, but speed is relative to the individual.

What I'd really like, of course, is to get my VO2 max tested. In other words, "I don't know what my VO2 max is, but I'd like to."


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1 comment:

Juliann said...

That would be interesting to find out!