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How to max your VO2 max

how to improve vo2 max
How to improve your VO2 maxGetty Images

Eliud Kipchoge’s VO2 max is estimated to be near 90; sub-three-hour marathoners average 65.5; and three-plus-hour marathoners are around 58.7. The average untrained adult lands at about 40. These numbers represent the maximum amount of oxygen a runner can consume in millilitres per kilogram of body weight in one minute (mL/kg/min).

What is VO2 max?

It sounds complicated, but simply put, VO2 max is a measurement of how efficiently your body uses oxygen, a key marker of cardio fitness.

If you don’t know your own VO2 max measurement, you’re not alone. Ahead of my VO2 max test at a specialist gym, I asked nearly every runner I encountered – elites to recreational – if they knew their VO2 max. Only a handful of the most competitive runners I know had been tested. Even so, they’d all forgotten their exact scores.

What no one could forget, though, was how horrendous the test felt. During it, you have to push yourself to the absolute limit. In a traditional VO2-max test, which is typically done on a treadmill, the intensity is increased by upping the speed or gradient in set increments, with the aim of building up to a maximum effort over 10-20 minutes.

Imagine your hardest effort, add a claustrophobic mask to measure your oxygen consumption, and then push for one minute longer than you think you can until you’re gasping for air. Why, then, would you, me, or anyone at all subject themselves to such brutal punishment?

Why is VO2 max important?

Here’s why: when you know what your VO2 max is, you can use that number a precise guide to improve it. And if you can improve it, you'll run further, faster and longer with less effort and fatigue. And who doesn’t want that?

Think of it like the efficiency of your own internal engine: ‘A high VO2 max is like a car with a bigger engine. A car with a smaller engine has to work harder to go as fast as the big engine,’ says Matthew Meyer, a coach for Mile High Run Club in New York City.

While VO2 max is a great marker to know – understanding and tracking your cardio fitness can help you set appropriate goals and evaluate your training – no plan or coach would ever suggest heading out on a run at, say, 80 per cent of your VO2 max. Instead, your VO2 max is used to identify more useful parameters: your heart rate zones and anaerobic threshold, says Silvano Zanuso, director of the medical and scientific department at Technogym. In this way, the test provides you with the most accurate zones and thresholds to plan your training around, he says.

The results of my own test revealed a hole in my training: the need to build out the lower end of my cardio fitness (ie: easy runs and recovery efforts). Because I was consistently training at a higher heart rate, my watch was overestimating my HR zones. As a result, the ranges were slightly too high.

How to improve VO2 max

No matter what the specific numbers say, to actually move the needle and improve your VO2 max, study after study shows that high-intensity interval training, or HIIT, is your best bet. This is because HIIT forces you to reach or temporarily surpass your anaerobic threshold before returning to a lower, aerobic, intensity. This type of overload causes your heart and lungs to adapt to the demands you’re imposing on them.

Try this cardio-boosting HIIT circuit

Perform as many reps as possible of the moves below in 30 seconds, resting for 10 seconds between each one. After you’ve completed all 5 exercises, rest for 1 minute before repeating the entire circuit again. Complete 4 rounds total. Once you master this, add 10 seconds of work until you reach 60 seconds total to improve your VO2 max.

Jump Squat

Mountain Climber

High Knees

Burpee

Alternating Plyo Lunge

How to improve Vo2 max through running

On the road or track, you’ll have to push your limits with tempo runs and interval sessions at threshold to boost your VO2 max. ‘The one thing it teaches you is how to become a better athlete,’ says running coach Greg Laraia. ‘If you want to take your performance to the next level, or if you’re stuck in a rut and trying to figure out what’s wrong, a VO2 max test will teach you how to customise your training to break out of that rut area.’

But while we’re all capable of improving our VO2 max with increased, specified training, there is a genetic ceiling to our aerobic potential. So unless you were born a Kipchoge, no amount of training in the world will push you to a VO2 max of 90 mL/kg/min.

How to estimate your VO2 max

You can have your maximum capacity tested at performance labs, specialist gyms and medical centres, but because it’s so demanding and costly (anything from £80 to £200), many opt for an alternative, like this 10-minute 10-minute self-paced VO2 max test here instead.

Note: This is a very high intensity test. Only undertake it if you are in good health and already exercise regularly. If in doubt, seek advice first.

Vo2 max watches

You could also try a running watch that includes a VO2-max estimation feature. The more you wear the watch, the more accurate your number will be. Generally, they tend to underestimate because we very rarely hit the top end of our capacity while working out.

That said, they all use your heart rate during certain workouts while also taking into account other factors, such as distance or altitude, to provide a fuller picture of your VO2 max.

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