is an indicator of the body's ability to absorb oxygen from the environment. In some cases, this indicator is interpreted as the degree of efficiency of the work done in training or an indicator of aerobic physical performance.

VO2 was first measured by scientists Archibald Vivien Hill and George Lupton back in 1923.

During the experiment, a runner was used as a test subject, who overcame a distance at a variable speed on a grassy surface. As a result, using special equipment of the time, it was found that the athlete reaches a maximum VO2 of 4,080 liters per minute at a speed of 243 meters per minute.

The figure of 4,080 l / min was taken as the maximum for the reason that further increase in speed by the athlete did not lead to an increase in VO2.

As a result of the experiment, the scientists came to the following conclusion:

“During running, the oxygen demand steadily rises and reaches extreme values, while the true oxygen consumption can no longer be exceeded”

In fact, this was the first mention of the concept of oxygen debt or anaerobic running, which is often used in modern sports physiology.

How to determine VO2 max?

The maximum oxygen uptake is measured for every athlete who crosses the line of an amateur and becomes a professional. To measure VO2 max, you need special equipment, which is installed in many centers. sports medicine and physiology.

There are 2 ways to measure this indicator: laboratory (accurate) and using fitness trackers.

Laboratory method of measurementVO2max.

Before the start of the study, the athlete is put on an oxygen mask, with which he will breathe throughout the measurements. After that, the athlete becomes treadmill and starts running. During the study, the running speed gradually increases, as well as the angle of the track.

At the moment when the athlete performs cyclic work, the researchers measure the remaining oxygen in the air that the athlete exhales. The measurement lasts until the athlete reaches the maximum level. physical activity. The indicators of reaching the maximum load are:

• Speed;
• Breathing rate;
• Maximum heart rate.

When the subject can no longer continue the test, he shows the command to the doctor and the treadmill stops. Thus, VO2 max is determined with high accuracy.

Measurement with fitness trackers fromGarmin andPolar.

The essence of this method comes down to simply following the instructions that are written specifically for measuring VO2 and only for a specific tracker model. This means that this method of measurement has nothing to do with the technique that is used in the laboratory.

When using a fitness tracker, all that is needed from the test subject is to buy a tracker and follow simple instructions.

To get results that will be as close as possible to the laboratory, you must follow 5 rules:

1. The environment should be calm. Any distractions must be eliminated. You can't talk to anyone. The rest of the test can be done at home, at work, or at a fitness club;
2. It is necessary to refrain from eating or smoking for 2-3 hours before testing;
3. Before turning on the test, you must lie down and relax for 2-3 minutes;
4. If re-testing is necessary, it is important that the environment and time of day are the same.

Based on numerous studies, the norm for men was determined - 45 ml / kg / min, and for women - 38 ml / kg / min. Interestingly, this figure for Ole Einar Bjoerndalen is 96 ml / kg / min. For example, in a horse, as in the most enduring animal - 180 ml / kg / min.

After using one of the methods you get the test result, you need to use table below to determine your aerobic fitness level.

Table of indicators for men.

Age	Extremely low	Short	Normal	Average	Good	Very good	Excellent
20-24	< 32	32-37	38-43	44-50	51-56	57-62
	< 31	31-35	36-42	43-48	49-53	54-59	> 59
30-34	< 29	29-34	35-40	41-45	46-51	52-56
	< 28	28-32	33-38	39-43	44-48	49-54	> 54
40-44	< 26	26-31	32-35	36-41	42-46	47-51
	< 25	25-29	30-34	35-39	40-43	44-48	> 48
50-54	< 24	24-27	28-32	33-36	37-41	42-46
	< 22	22-26	27-30	31-34	35-39	40-43	> 43
60-65	< 21	21-24	25-28	29-32	33-36	37-40

Table of indicators for women.

Age	Extremely low	Short	Normal	Average	Good	Very good	Excellent
20-24	< 27	27-31	32-36	37-41	42-46	47-51
	< 26	26-30	31-35	36-40	41-44	45-49
	< 25	25-29	30-33	34-37	38-42	43-46	> 46
35-39	< 24	24-27	28-31	32-35	36-40	41-44
	< 22	22-25	26-29	30-33	34-37	38-41	> 41
45-49	< 21	21-23	24-27	28-31	32-35	36-38
	< 19	19-22	23-25	26-29	30-32	33-36	> 36
55-59	< 18	18-20	21-23	24-27	28-30	31-33
	< 16	16-18	19-21	22-24	25-27	28-30

VO2 is heritable, meaning it is passed down from parents to children. This has positive and negative sides. On the one hand, having a high VO2 from birth is good, but on the other hand, people with a low VO2 at birth, even with long exhausting workouts, may not achieve the same level.

What physical qualities are affected by VO2 max?

The rate of oxygen uptake from the air plays an important, if not decisive, role in achieving success in all sports with a cyclical focus and not only. The higher the VO2, the easier the athlete tolerates the load and recovers faster. In other words, this indicator has become almost the most important during the sports selection.

Main physical qualities that depend on this indicator are speed and speed-strength endurance. The higher the VO2 max, the longer the athlete can maintain maximum speed. In addition to these two qualities, this indicator plays a key role in determining the overall endurance of an athlete. This is largely why the famous biathlete Bjoerndalen has such an impressive 96 ml / kg / min., Which is 51 points more than an untrained young man.

How to improve VO2max?

Any system of the body and its components can be improved by the right influence. In the case of an indicator of oxygen digestibility, you can use different kinds exercises that include:

• Running lessons;
• Fast walk;
• A ride on the bicycle;
• Skiing;
• Swimming.

We use running as an example, as the simplest and most accessible sport.

The best type of running, which will effectively increase the indicator we need, is. Therefore, to properly influence VO2, use the following training option: 4-6 bursts of 800 meters at a fast pace, followed by a transition to a slow run. Or jogging at a high pace for 20 minutes.

Studies were also conducted that proved that this indicator develops more effectively in mountainous areas at an altitude of 1500 meters above sea level.

Some time ago, we talked about the Withings smartwatch, which learned how to measure the level of VO2 max. If you're serious about fitness, you've probably come across these terms at some point in your training. But what does it mean?

VO2 max is the maximum amount of oxygen a person can use. In other words, it is a measurement of your ability to consume oxygen. In addition, this is a great way to determine the strength of the cardiovascular system. People with a high VO2 max have better blood circulation, which means it is more efficiently distributed to all the muscles involved in physical activity.

How VO2 max is measured

This indicator is the sum of the number of milliliters of oxygen consumed per minute per body weight. Professional athletes pass this test in special laboratories on a treadmill. During the test, the amount of oxygen required by the athlete is determined, including in those moments when the intensity of the load increases. The process usually takes about 10-15 minutes.

For the Withings Steel HR Sport, VO2 max is determined using data from your workout speed and heart rate.

Highest VO2 max

The highest figure was recorded by cyclist Oskar Svendzen, he was 97.5 ml / kg / min. Generally, top scores show representatives of those sports that require special endurance. Statistically, rowers and runners have the highest V02 max among other athletes.

What affects V02 max

Genetics and physical fitness play a huge role. However, there are several other factors that determine a person's VO2 max to some extent.

• Gender: Generally, women have about 20% lower VO2 max than men.
• Height: The shorter a person is, the higher his performance.
• Age: The maximum level is fixed at the age of 18 to 25, after which it decreases.

You can also improve your V02 max by increasing the duration and intensity of your workout, or by simply starting to exercise if you haven't already. And as you become more experienced, you need to gradually increase the intensity of your workouts.

Without modern knowledge about the work and functioning of the human body at maximum loads, success in sports of any athlete is impossible, especially in running.

Knowledge about VO2max is necessary not only for athletes, but also for ordinary people, since this indicator reveals the secrets of the state of health of any person at the moment, the capabilities of the body, its ability to live long.

What is vo2 max?

VO2 Max is defined as maximum amount oxygen that your body can take in, deliver, and use within one minute. It is limited by the amount of oxygen in the blood that the lungs and circulatory system can process and the amount of oxygen the muscles can extract from the blood.

The name means: V - volume, O 2 - oxygen, max - maximum. VO 2 max is expressed either as an absolute rate of liters of oxygen per minute (l/min) or as a relative rate in milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute (eg ml/(kg min)). The latter expression is often used to compare the endurance performance of athletes

What does he characterize?

VO2max is a measure of the maximum rate at which an athlete's body is able to absorb oxygen during a particular operation, adjusted for body weight.

It is estimated that VO2 Max decreases by about 1% per year.

A high VO2max is important because it is closely related to the distance covered by the subject. Studies have shown that VO2max accounts for roughly 70 percent of race performance success among individual runners.

So if you're able to run a 5000m one minute faster than I can, it's likely that your VO2max is higher than mine by an amount that's good enough to account for 42 seconds of that minute.

There are two main factors that contribute to high VO2max. One of them is high oxygen saturation. transport system which includes a powerful heart, blood hemoglobin, high blood volume, high capillary density in the muscles, and high mitochondrial density in muscle cells.

The second speed is the ability to compress a large number muscle fibers at the same time, since the more muscle tissue active at any given time, the more oxygen the muscles consume.

This makes VO2 Max a critical sign of aging that we can measure and improve with proper aerobic training. To do this you must raise your heart rate to between 65 and 85 percent of your maximum through aerobic exercise for at least 20 minutes, three or five times a week.

The difference in performance between ordinary people and athletes

In ordinary people, men aged 20-39 years, VO2max averages from 31.8 to 42.5 ml / kg / min, and in runners of the same age, VO2max indicators average up to 77 ml / kg / min.

Untrained girls and women tend to have maximum oxygen uptake 20-25% lower than untrained men. However, when comparing elite athletes, the gap tends to be close to 10%.

Going further, VO2 max is adjusted for fat-free mass in elite male and female athletes, the difference disappearing in some studies. Sex-specific essential fat stores are hypothesized to account for most of the metabolic differences in running between men and women.

In general, the decrease in age-related VO2 max can be explained by a decrease in maximum heart rate, maximum blood volume, and maximum a-VO2 difference, that is, the difference between the oxygen concentration in arterial blood and venous blood.

How is Vo2 max measured?

Accurate measurement of VO2 max involves physical effort of sufficient duration and intensity to fully load the aerobic energy system.

In general clinical and athletic testing, this typically includes a differentiated exercise test (either on a treadmill or on a bicycle ergometer) in which exercise intensity is gradually increased while measuring: ventilation and oxygen, and carbon dioxide concentrations in inhaled and exhaled air .

• VO 2 max is reached when oxygen consumption remains stable despite an increase in work volume.
• VO 2 max is correctly determined by the Fick equation:
• VO2max=Q x (CaO2-CvO2)

these values ​​are obtained during exercise at maximum effort, where Q is the cardiac output of the heart, C O 2 is the arterial oxygen content, and C V O 2 is the venous oxygen content.

• (C O 2 - C v O 2) is also known as the arteriovenous oxygen difference.

In running, it is usually determined by a procedure known as the supplemental exercise test, in which the athlete breathes into a snorkel and the snorkel collects and measures exhaled gases while running on a treadmill, where

the tape speed or gradient gradually increases until the athlete reaches fatigue. Max Speed The oxygen consumption recorded in this test will be the VO2max of the runner.

Calculation of VO 2 Max without fitness testing.

To determine your heart rate without a monitor, place two fingers against the artery on the side of your neck, just below your jaw. You should be able to feel your heartbeat on your fingers. Set a timer for 60 seconds and count the number of beats you feel

This is your heart rate (heart rate) in beats per minute (BPM). Calculate your maximum heart rate. The most common way to calculate your maximum heart rate is by subtracting your age from 220. If you are 25 years old, your HR max = 220 -25 = 195 beats per minute (bpm).

Let's define VO 2 max with a simple formula. The simplest formula to calculate VO 2 max VO 2 max = 15 x (HR max / HR rest). This method is considered good when compared with other general formulas.

Calculate VO2 max. Your use of rest and maximum heart rate is already determined, you can plug these values ​​into the formula and calculate VO 2 max. Let's say your resting heart rate is 80 beats per minute and your maximum heart rate is 195 beats per minute.

• Write the formula: VO 2 max = 15 x (HR max / HR rest)
• Connect values: VO 2 max = 15 x (195/80).
• Solve: VO 2 max = 15 x 2.44 = 36.56 ml/kg/min.

How to Improve Your VO2max

A quick way to improve VO2max is to run for about six minutes at the fastest pace you can sustain during that time. So you could do a VO2max workout that consisted of a 10 minute warm up, a six minute run, and a 10 minute cool down.

But it's not the best The best way VO2max preparation, as you can get very tired after a six-minute effort. It is better to do several fewer efforts at the same or slightly higher intensity, separated by recovery periods, as this allows the athlete to use more total time at 100 percent VO2max until exhaustion is reached. Another option is to add intensity back just a little, and run slightly longer intervals.

Start with 30/30 intervals. After warming up for at least 10 minutes with light jogging, work hard for 30 seconds at your fastest pace. Then slow down to easy Good way enter VO2max training into your program with 30/30 and 60/60 intervals. Continue alternating fast and slow 30-second bursts until you've completed at least 12 and then 20 of each.

Surely you have heard of such an indicator - VO 2 max, especially if you are fond of running or triathlon. We understand what it is with the help of a chapter from the book “Cardio or Strength”.

VO 2 max - this term invariably pops up as soon as it comes to any sports competition, requiring enormous endurance, for example, about the Tour de France cycling race. VO 2 max means maximum oxygen consumption. That is, VO 2 max means the most large quantity oxygen that you are able to transfer to the muscles when you exercise with the utmost intensity. The logic here is simple: the more oxygen your body can process, the faster you will run. Therefore, many athletes are looking for an opportunity to get a VO 2 max test at universities and laboratories, where it costs $100-150.

How to measure VO2 max

Usually this test goes like this: a person begins to train on a treadmill or on an exercise bike at a moderate pace, and then gradually accelerates and after 10-12 minutes reaches the maximum level of intensity. The amount of oxygen that the subject consumes (measured using tubes in the mouth) increases as he accelerates, and usually levels off shortly before stopping: this is the signal that the individual VO 2 max level has been reached. .

Some scientists believe that this happens when the heart pumps oxygen-rich blood to the muscles as quickly as possible; others believe that everything comes from the individual characteristics of the muscles. A more modern theory says that these limits cannot be explained in terms of physiology at all, since in this case everything is dictated by the instinct of self-preservation and is regulated by the brain.

Sure, professional endurance athletes usually have a higher VO2 max than so-called weekend fighters, but it's not for the reasons you might think. There is a common misconception that as a person gets fit, his heart begins to beat faster, which means it pumps more oxygen. In fact, professionals high level heart rate is usually lower than in non-athletes. It's just that their heart muscles are bigger and more flexible, able to eject more blood with every powerful beat.

The volume of blood pumped by an athlete's heart can vary from 5 liters per minute at rest to 30 liters per minute at the limit. physical activity- and this is twice the level that an untrained person can achieve. (The highest documented figure was 42.3 liters per minute; it belongs to the master of sports of international class in orienteering.)

Differences in VO 2 max levels are partly due to simple genetics, and partly due to intense training. The average adult male will have a VO2 max of between 30 and 40 ml/min/kg, and in an adult woman - from 25 to 35 ml / min / kg.

VO 2 max of the famous cyclist Lance Armstrong during his victory in the Tour de France, according to Edward Coyle, a sports physiologist at the University of Texas, was at least 85 ml / min / kg. “We estimate that even if Lance lay motionless on the couch in front of the TV all day, his VO 2 max would not drop below 60 ml/min/kg,” Coyle wrote in the study report. “At the same time, if a typical university student trained intensively for two or more years, his VO 2 max would still not rise above 60 ml/min/kg.”

Despite a very impressive figure, it would be a mistake to conclude that Armstrong's victory was the result of a high VO 2 max, since many of his competitors had the same figure. Coyle believes that Armstrong's success can be explained by the fact that his efficiency increased by 8% between 1992 and 1999, although other scientists dispute these findings. Physiologists agree only that (fortunately for sports fans) based on measurements and calculations made in the laboratory, even the most accurate, complete and comprehensive, it is impossible to predict who exactly will win the competition.

So what does the measurement of VO 2 max give, in addition to the elementary satisfaction of curiosity? Comparing the results of several tests conducted over a long period of time allows you to track whether a person is improving their performance. However, as you understand, it is quite possible to notice this without any laboratories: it is quite enough, say, to participate in competitions. Experts generally recommend that athletes measure their lactate threshold: This test provides much more useful practical information than the VO 2 max test.

What is lactate threshold and should I check mine?

Although scientists are still arguing about what the physiology of the lactate threshold is and how it should be correctly determined, the essence of the phenomenon in this case is extremely clear.

If you're in pretty good shape and run or bike at a slow pace, you'll feel like you can keep doing it for hours. If you run or ride too fast, you will probably feel uncomfortable and want to stop or slow down after a few minutes. Somewhere between these two extremes there is a point after which the body starts burning energy (it happens at a pace that a person cannot sustain for long), and this point is characterized by a sharp jump in the rate of formation of lactate in the blood.

The lactate threshold corresponds to the pace at which you can work for approximately an hour., and is accompanied by other changes of a physiological nature: for example, you begin to breathe heavily, and therefore, as a rough method for determining your threshold, you can use the "talking test" (a pace at which you can also talk without panting). The pace at which you move when you reach the threshold is the most reliable of all the parameters that scientists have at their disposal today, by which they can predict how you will perform in competition.

In addition, this is a valuable hint with which you can calculate at what speed you are best to run (ride) during classes. That is why many athletes regularly do a lactate threshold test to track progress and adjust the training process.

Initially, scientists mistakenly believed that lactate was a harmful waste product that caused pain and fatigue. However, as it turned out, they confused the cause with the effect. Lactate levels rise when your muscles are oxygen deficient or forced to burn energy less efficiently because they don't get enough oxygen; but in reality lactate is more of a fuel than a metabolic product.

However, you can use an increase in blood lactate as a rough indicator of when your body stops relying primarily on aerobic metabolism (when your muscles get enough oxygen to keep moving) and switches to anaerobic metabolism (when your muscles no longer get enough oxygen). oxygen and you can't keep moving without a time limit).

Like the VO2 max test, the lactate threshold test (usually 20 minutes to an hour) is done on a treadmill or stationary bike. At the same time, the speed is constantly increasing, on average this happens every 5 minutes. At the end of each such period, blood is taken from the test subject for analysis from a finger or earlobe. The absolute values ​​of the amount of lactate are not very significant and depend on many parameters (for example, they may fluctuate depending on what you ate before).

An important indicator in this case is your speed (and heart rate) from the moment when lactate levels begin to rise significantly. This will be your lactate (anaerobic) threshold.

In 2009, Sports Medicine published a review of 32 studies on the relationship between lactate threshold and performance in competitive running, cycling, race walking and rowing.

The results showed that the lactate threshold test was much more accurate than the VO 2 max test at predicting outcomes - from 55 to 85% of races of various distances (from 800 m to marathons).

Moreover, the lactate threshold is simply ideal setting to track the effectiveness of training. Adam Johnson, trainer and director of the Toronto Endurance Research Lab, recommends that athletes get their lactate threshold tested every 4 months. “When a person sees significant changes after 4 months of training, it gives him confidence in his abilities,” he says. “In addition, the test helps to detect if something is not working and correct the situation.”

Of course, there are many other ways to track the effectiveness of training, starting with a modest stopwatch. Changing the lactate threshold is more likely to interest those who crave objectivity, have a weakness for advanced technology and have always dreamed of catching up with Lance Armstrong. Today, such studies are widely available.

“There is a misconception that only serious athletes, elite professionals, can take this test,” says Johnson. - However, in fact, many of the most different people who are going to achieve certain results in sports, and we successfully help them all.”

The training of a runner (or any other athlete) is a series of stresses for the body. To improve performance, it is necessary to overcome long-term physical stress and the stressful state in which the body resides in the presence of overloads. Metrics tell you how effective your workouts are VO2 Max.

What is VO2 Max

VO 2 Max is a measure of the body's absorption of oxygen, which enters the lungs directly when you inhale. By measuring it, the specialist can say for sure whether progress is possible during training. If so, how great are the test-taker's capabilities? We can say that this is an indicator of the physical performance of the test person, measured by the maximum consumption and absorption of oxygen by the body.

Data on VO 2 Max makes it possible to correctly compose a training program, as well as monitor the progress in the development of an athlete. Many calculate the potential and talent of a runner, taking it as a basis.

VO 2 Max can be measured by contacting one of the sports medicine centers: most of them are already equipped with such a modern device. There you will have to run a little. Putting on a special oxygen mask, the athlete gets on the treadmill and begins his journey.

Watching the indicators, specialists from time to time change the angle of inclination of the treadmill, as well as the speed of its movement. When the subject reaches the maximum level of possible load on, the exercise ends. This happens at the signal of the one who is being tested, when it is already difficult for him to breathe, and the heart is working at its limit. At these moments, VO 2 Max indicators are recorded.

The theory about the effect of VO 2 Max on the endurance of the human body states that:

1. The body has an upper limit of oxygen uptake.
2. There is a difference between the VO 2 Max values, the origin of which has natural causes.
3. In order to successfully perform both in long marathons and in short races, high VO2 Max values ​​are required.
4. The limitation of VO 2 Max is the ability of the circulatory system to transport the maximum amount of oxygen to the muscle cells.

Calculation of VO 2 Max and Fitness Level

The following formula is used to calculate VO 2 Max data:

VO2max \u003d Q x (CaO2-CvO2)

It takes into account cardiac output (Q), indicators of the amount of oxygen in the arterial blood (CaO2) and the amount of this gas in the venous blood (CvO2). And yet, these calculations are not highly accurate due to the fact that they do not take into account the possible factors that can get in the way of oxygen.

Taking the VO 2 Max data as a starting point, experts calculate the level physical training person. These data can be compared with the indicators of the correspondence table:

Physical condition level		VO2 Max
		Age
		20-29	30-39	40-49	50-59	60-69
1. Low	1	38	34	30	25	21
	2	25	25	25	25	—
	3	32	30	27	23	20
2. Below average	1	39-43	35-37	31-35	26-31	22-26
	2	25-33	25-30	25-26	26	—
	3	32-37	30-35	27-31	23-28	20-26
3. Medium	1	44-51	40-47	36-43	32-39	27-35
	2	34-42	30-39	25-35	25-33	—
	3	38-44	36-42	32-39	29-36	27-32
4. Above average	1	52-56	48-51	44-47	40-43	36-39
	2	42-51	39-48	35-45	34-43	—
	3	45-52	43-50	40-47	3745	33-43
High	1	57	52	48	44	40
	2	52	48	45	43	—
	3	52	50	47	45	43

Stages of oxygen movement in the human body

The entire path of O 2 through the body is called the oxygen cascade. It consists of several stages:

• The consumption of oxygen-containing gas, in which air is pumped into the lungs and moves along the tracheobronchial tree to the very alveoli, and then is fed to the capillaries, and already here it enters the blood.
• Transportation, in which, with the help of cardiac output, blood saturated with O 2 is sent to the tissues and all organs of the body.
• Utilization of oxygen, in which this gas is sent back and transported to the mitochondria.

Features of oxygen consumption

Saturation of the body with oxygen depends on several factors:

• The composition of the air inhaled by a person from the external environment.
• Differences in internal pressure between alveolar vesicles and capillaries. There is sufficient oxygen in the alveoli. It is practically absent in the capillaries, which provokes the redirection of gas movement into the vessels.
• The total number of capillaries. The more small vessels, the better the blood is saturated. This indicator cannot be changed, since these are individual characteristics of the organism.

The amount of oxygen your body needs depends on how fast you run. How faster man runs, the more cells in the muscles come into an excited state. For active work, the muscles need more energy, which means that the level of the required amount of oxygen rises, the muscles consume it faster. The higher the speed of movement, the faster oxygen is consumed by the muscles. And yet, VO2 Max cannot rise indefinitely. At some point, it reaches the boundary line (no matter how the running speed rises, VO 2 Max remains unchanged).

Depending on the fitness of the muscles, you can calculate the maximum work time of any person. The table below shows this calculation:

The intensity of muscle work as a percentage of the maximum	Working time limit
	trained man	untrained person
100	10-15 min	1-5 min
90	50 min	10 min
75	3 h	20 minutes
50	8.5 h	1 hour
30	—	8.5 h

Some people believe that the blood, during intensive movement, completely gives up oxygen, respectively, its percentage drops sharply. Modern scientists have proved that this is not so: even the highest loads cannot cause blood saturation to fall below 95%, which is only 1-5% less than at rest. This suggests that blood oxygen saturation may not be the limiting factor that affects the physical capabilities of a person.

Most athletes feel the effects of elevated hematocrit and hemoglobin levels. This violation usually visits those who use illegal drugs.

And yet, some trained athletes suffer from hypoxemia, in which oxygen levels during exercise drop by as much as 15%, which is a very rare phenomenon. This happens when an athlete accelerates his body so much that the blood moves much faster, respectively, it simply does not have time to get enough of the alveoli.

More frequent cases are a decrease in blood saturation with hematocrit and hemoglobin. Athletes are known to successfully perform with indicators that in ordinary life would be regarded as signs of anemia. Some researchers argue that this may be the result of the body's adaptation to high mountain conditions. As it became known, the ways of adapting the body are very different in different regions:

This suggests that it is possible, and in many cases even necessary, to influence VO2 Max. That's just the approach should be strictly individual. Changes to the training system can only be made by a highly qualified specialist.

Factors Affecting VO2 Max

The level of VO 2 Max can be influenced by the breathing process itself, or rather the muscles that are involved in this process. Different people they require different quantity oxygen. The more gas the respiratory muscles take on, the less it enters the bloodstream.

In addition to all of the above, an athlete's performance may suffer due to increased demands on the diaphragm. In this case, these muscles draw more blood to themselves with increasing loads. At the same time, a smaller amount of it gets to the muscles responsible for the work, for example, of the legs. This suggests that the diaphragm is "tired", respectively, the effectiveness of its work has fallen.

To improve the performance of the diaphragm, it is necessary to carry out special breathing exercises. It has been proven that VO 2 Max levels are higher and more stable in those athletes who set aside time for this in their daily training.

Little hint

For those considering VO2 Max when designing their training system, keep in mind that:

1. This indicator takes into account the maximum amount of digestible oxygen. The more of it, the better.
2. VO2 Max does not have much practical value, but its control can help develop a better system for consuming and utilizing oxygen in a runner.
3. As running speed increases, so does oxygen consumption.
4. VO 2 Max does not grow indefinitely, but stops at a certain level, individual for each athlete individually.
5. VO2 Max is significantly affected by the breathing process itself.
6. The level of VO 2 Max largely depends on how trained the respiratory muscles are.
7. No matter how hard the workout, the maximum heart rate remains at the same level. At the same time, in trained athletes, the stroke volume increases sharply both in a calm state and in the presence of great physical exertion.
8. Significantly affects VO 2 Max and the level of hemoglobin in the blood, which helps transport oxygen through the circulatory system.
9. Too high hematocrit affects the body. It can significantly reduce performance by disrupting the delivery of nutrients and oxygen compounds to body tissues.

If you have reached a high level of physical fitness, do not stop. Pay attention to new modern developments that will help you achieve better results. Keep yourself in good shape, because it guarantees you health and longevity.