VO2 Max

This post seems a lot like bragging. I hope my handful of readers will forgive me. At my age there aren't a lot of things to brag about, especially related to physical fitness. And of course, I like to geek out on all the numbers :-) I recently had my VO2 max tested and got 51 (tl;dr - that's good)

I had it tested once before, 30 years ago, and got 69 (ml/kg/min). For a male in their 30's "elite" (top 2.3%) is 53 or over. World class athletes would be in the 80's or 90's. Although I was never an "athlete" in terms of competing in any sport, at that point I was training hard for an 8000m expedition and I'd spent a long Saskatchewan winter doing hard intervals on the treadmill in the basement. I've wondered what my VO2 max would be now. The average decline is about 10% per decade up to the age of 50, and then about 15% per decade. That would put me around 45 now. I know my running has declined so I was a little nervous that my VO2 max would be even lower than that.

I was pretty happy with 51. (I actually peaked at 55 but they take a 30 second average.) I guess all my running actually does pay off! (And it helps to be skinny. vo2 max is per kilogram of body weight, so everything else constant, it helps to weigh less.) Peter Attia suggests a good stretch goal is to qualify as elite for two decades younger than your age. I almost made it - elite for someone in their 40's is 52 or more - I missed it by one point.

I suspect I could raise my VO2 max by adding some hard intervals each week. I almost always run easy with a relatively low heart rate, which is good, but a small amount of hard exercise, near your max heart rate, helps increase your VO2 max. But hard intervals are ... hard! And running full out has a high risk of injury. One option is a long hill where I can get my heart rate up without going too fast. Or maybe a running track that at least has a consistent smooth surface.

My watch (Garmin Fenix) estimates VO2 max. I was always skeptical how accurate this was, but it was interesting to see that it wasn't too far off. It is currently estimating 55. Apparently for most people it underestimates, but for me it overestimates by about 8%.