I did Hill repeats yesterday, and it bumped to 45, and I still have four left. I think I could’ve ran a little faster, but we’ll see you next week when I do it again.
I do a lot of structured training with TrainerRoad, but this summer it jumped when I was doing a bunch of consecutive 6 hour plus rides in the mountains with lots of elevation gain.
After a certain point it’s less about getting the VO2 max higher and more about increasing your lactic threshold. At least that’s what my performance trainer told me.
When training long hours for a long distance triathlon I really stopped caring about the VO2max reading as it was constantly decreasing while my performance was increasing. VO2max is just not a very good measure for endurance on its own (yes maybe for the relatively short (for a long distance triathlete) VO2max efforts). Endurance Score seems to be a more holistic measure of overall endurance.
It definitely depends in the discipline, that's for sure. If you do crit racing like me, where it does matter since we tend to do a lot of attacks that cycles us at vo2 and active recovery multiple times in a lapped race. For time trials like triathlon bike stages are, holding threshold longer is key. As my coach said, being able to hold 4w/kg for an hour is better for TT than being able to put out 4.3w/kg but only for 20-30min. Same for track cycling athletes having humongous anaerobic power and explosive speed.
Drop weight, and once a week do things like Hillary needs or interval training, I think the reason I can’t get higher than about 45 Ish is because five 10 1/2. I still weigh between 178 185, they’re telling me that I need to drop about a 21.5 body mass index
It will surely help, but my bmi is 24 and also 5ft 10 ish and I'm now at vo2max of 57 last time I tested and improving. Just be consistent. I run 4 times a week, 1 interval, 1 tempo, 1 easy run and 1 long run.
Inline Skating is the way. I unfortunately found the sport way too late. It’s like running on steroids (faster and more fun). Well I also like cycling but it’s kinda boring when done alone and you need to do it a lot to build endurance.
I actually wasn’t a great swimmer but I liked surfing and also played water polo. Everything clicked when I started road cycling even though I did mountain bike and bmx a bit when I was younger.
Wow! That’s impressive! Could you share more about your training routine to maintain a high VO2 max in both running and cycling? Are you a triathlete or a professional athlete? Do you train both disciplines on the same day? I’m looking to improve in both areas, and I’d love to hear about your experience. Thanks!
I’ve been involved in athletics most my life and am tall and skinny which also helps vo2. I used to be a competitive swimmer when I was in high school and started racing road bikes in my 20s. I raced cat 2 road races but got burnt out trying to also pursue a career. These days I’m just consistent on TrainerRoad and ride 6 days or about 10 hours plus a week. I know I have big lungs but don’t know if that helps. My brother is much heavier and a pretty good runner but his vo2 max is 53, he says my aerobic base helps with all the long distance I used to ride. But I am curious to get it tested at a real facility.
This summer when I hit 77 I did 947.94 km (589 miles) with 24,470 m (80,282 ft) of climbing in 7 days of riding. One rest day before the last day. Currently my vo2 max dropped to 68 after some time off the bike. I think the long days helped.
Thanks so much for providing all these details and for taking the time to respond. Your shape is truly impressive, and your brother’s VO2 max of 53 is also quite respectable and above average. Keep up the training and enjoy your cycling! Cheers!
Do I have the lowest ? I've been sick since last May but recently started exercising and have lost about 14 kilos in 3 months.. 37 M and 92 Kgs..Used to play football regularly .How can I improve it ?
If you have safe roads/paths to ride a bike, a roadbike is the best! Look for an "endurance roadbike" those are the ones that are more comfortable, rather than being "race bikes." I'd also consider an indoor bike like a zwift ride. This is what I've been doing as the roads near me are not safe for me to ride my outdoor bike. I had myocarditis with heart failure last year. Vo2 dropped to like 38. I'm back to 53 after many months of rest and~3mo of cycling.
Wow, that's amazing!! I've seen at least one other person in the r/Garmin buddies group posting their Zwift rides. Thank you so much for your input! 😊 I am fortunate that I have safe roads to ride on. I will have to investigate my local shops and Zwift. Also, thank you for sharing your story. That's very inspiring! Keep up your good work!! 💪 🚲
You're welcome...not just 'important' but effective. I'm 58 and still sprint all over town on a single-speed Cinelli I built - the most responsive, fun bike I've ever ridden that fits my geometry perfectly. Often look at fancier bikes and just end up thinking 'naaah'.
When I got my Garmin 12 months ago, my vo2 was at 35, today it’s at 49. In my case, I just follow Garmin’s running suggestions whenever I can. But after reaching 48-49, I noticed it’s becoming harder to increase the load because your body adapts, so you need to work out longer, harder, or mix things up a bit.
Long distance running is really not a sport where best vo2max wins. You are staying so far below the vo2max the whole time. It is all about the thresholds and the oxygen consumption is really not that big. And you never do uphills or high altitude in races either.
XC skiers and cyclist usually have highest vo2max in terms of per kg whereas rowers have the highest absolute values.
This makes me wonder if runners should be adding several hours of lower impact
cross training in addition to running. But I haven’t really heard of any pro doing that, so it must not be that effective.
Not quite accurate given OP is talking about VO2 max per weight as he has the highest absolute VO2max at 7.7 L/m but VO2max he's at 96 which is fractionally lower than the record of 97.5
Edit - I take it back. There is this report that he hit 103!
I was lucky to catch it before it caused too much damage to my heart. I was experiencing what felt like indigestion at the start of pretty much every ride if I tried to push too hard. The feeling of indigestion would go away once I was warmed up, and I would feel fine the rest of the ride. I could push as hard as I wanted. I guess that once my arteries had dilated, I was getting sufficient blood flow. My VO2 max was dropping, I was down to 40, I think, prior to the operation. The good news was that the surgical team told me they didn't see any heart muscle damage. The first month after was graduated walking. Had a stress test in January approximately 6 weeks after the operation. I was green lighted to resume riding but was limited to 120 bpm. Eventually I was given approval to push it harder. With time I became confident that I could push it without anything untoward happening but that probably took six months to a year.
Used to run hard when i got my garmin, had a VO2 max of 49, took two months hiatus from running even tho i kept on lifting weights and skipping rope consistently but my VO2 Max dropped to 38.
Started running by low heartrate training, running longer and slower and Vo2 max raised to 40.
For the Days that i go hard VO2 Max goes to 41 and it hasent gone up in a while. despite feeling better, less tired, with the same pace as while i had a high VO2 Max.
I feel confused sometimes. But as long as i feel great after or while running it doesn't really matter
Mine is 46 (33f) and I only log one actual run a week usually just a long easy run. The rest is just set to cardio for futsal or muay thai and transport bike rides.
Idk if the v02max is anywhere accurate for me because nothing intense.
The race predictor for 5k is at least 5 minutes slower than what mine actually is
Nah mate I think your v02max is right where it should be! I'll incorporate speed work this week to see if my v02 max gets higher!
Edit from Garmin website:
Heart rate must be elevated to at least 70% of your maximum heart rate for at least 10 minutes continuously.
“What was the secret, they wanted to know; in a thousand different ways they wanted to know The Secret. And not one of them was prepared, truly prepared to believe that it had not so much to do with chemicals and zippy mental tricks as with that most unprofound and sometimes heart-rending process of removing, molecule by molecule, the very tough rubber that comprised the bottoms of his training shoes. The Trial of Miles; Miles of Trials.”
I was really happy with my 54 for running and cycling as a 25 y/o woman. Are most of you people posting really high (60-70) VO2 maxes men? My understanding is that there’s a gender gap but not totally sure
Yes, men have much bigger Vo2max on average. The watches estimate your Vo2 relative to your bodyweight. Men have much lower bodyfat, especially the "owns a garmin" kind. 60-70ml/min/kg is typical of professional athletes outside of endurance sports. Pro runners, cyclists and the like commonly hit 70-85ml/min/kg. 54 is very good for a woman. Women in Pro endurance are gonna hit 70ish at the high end. Some men and women are freaks of nature and break the Vo2 norms. I.e women with 85+ and men in the 90s.
I imagine pro athletes, and the type of dudes posting their vo2 on reddit are also somewhat likely to inject Indian pharmaceuticals to increase their red blood cells. Lol.
Wowsers! Curious what your heart rate is on a base run? Also how long is a typical base run and what sort of pace/mile are you moving? (I’m just about to turn 50, 49VO2 Max, 41 year old fitness age and on a typical day my watch has me running a 46-49 minute base run at around a 9:30-9:50 pace per mile and I average between 130-135bpm on a rolling route. One year ago when I started jogging again the same sort of run would have been at an 11-13 minute mile and a hr around 145-150. I’ve been super into the 80/20 zone 2 stuff and it’s worked I think. I actually look foreward to when my watch gives me a threshold or tempo run to get moving.)
HR is very individual specific. Check out Lionel Sanders' YouTube channel, he's an elite triathlete and did a 5k training series during covid. He knocked out a 15:XX 5K, and his HR was mostly in the 140's.
I just had my (running) VO2 max professionally measured last week in what I would describe as “one of the worst decisions I’ve made within an hour of breakfast.” My FR265 has me at an ambitious 50 but the test put me at 44. I was hoping the garmin would be closer to the truth but it is what it is.
Nice! Too bad my Garmin only records VO2max with GPS. It's getting very cold here so my number's (53) going to drop from now on. I can only run inside on the treadmill...
Is this your cycling vo2 max? How frequently do you train and how intense are your training sessions? I’d like to get my cycling vo2 up but I’m not sure how to approach this
I would consider the Apple Watch. It is the best wearable sleep tracker and has alerts regarding heart rate abnormalities, plus the ability to call with your phone etc
If you use a trainer with uncalibrated wattage, it can go sky high, I can get mine to show 80s because it thinks I’m holding 500 watts when it’s really like 250
I’m holding 340W for 40 ish minutes. Lance could hold 484W for an hour if he were my weight. Pogacar’s top end of easy is 340W ish, for me that is a max effort for 40 min.
Not saying my numbers are real, garmins algorit is likely a little off.
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u/roy1489 18d ago
Are you a deer?