VO2 Max

Last blog post when I said that I had already written the VO2 max post what I actually meant was, I had written about 3 sentences and then realized that no sane person would read the haircut update and the VO2 max update so I stopped writing the VO2 max update and hoped that the shame of lying to my followers would cause me to actually write it soon. Instead it seems I am ready for a position of great political power as lying to my followers gave me little pause.
Now on to the actual post which I feel I must preface with an acknowledgment of sorts. My knowledge of VO2 max has come entirely from one test, conversations with other outdoor enthusiasts (read: people with interest in VO2 max not mastery of its ins and outs), and about 15 minutes of searching on google. In other words, I am an expert on all things pertaining to VO2 max. I would even go as far as to say that I am to VO2 max what Dr. James Andrews is to tommy john surgery. However my expertise relies mainly on truthiness.
On to the test. On a Friday about a month ago the nordic team made a trip down to, one of the high schools in, Bergen in our euro sprinter van (like an american sprinter van but cleaner and with half the leg room), the trip took about 1:30 and required us to arrive at school at 7:30 (the time I can usually be found turning off my alarm and beginning my 15-30 minute beauty sleep). Early wake up aside I arrived in Bergen in good spirits excited to take my test, at 11:45. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect so I warmed up like I was going to be racing a shorter distance race, beginning 45 minutes before my start, ending with 5-10 left and having a good amount of intensity in the middle. I was feeling pretty tired and I was having trouble getting my heart rate up but I was not that worried due to my total lack of VO2 max knowhow. I merely assumed (maybe even correctly) that being tired wouldn't really affect the results that much as VO2 max is about lung capacity not going the fastest.
The test was conducted on a treadmill with the option of going at 5.2% or 10.5% grade (I went with 5.2%) with the speed beginning at 10kmh an hour and going up by 1kmh a minute if you gave the thumbs up. I was first measured for height and weight and then I got a nose clip put on me. The machine to measure oxygen intake fit in my mouth like a massive snorkel that would only look natural on Barry Bonds' head, breathing was rather unnatural, without use of my nose, but not a game changer. I was told to run and every minute give a thumbs up if I wanted to go faster or a neutral thumb if I wanted to stay at the same pace. New reading came out every 30 seconds and we were told to be sure we felt we could maintain 1 minute at the next pace (someone should really look into revising this sentence for clarity). It is a go to complete exhaustion test and I was done after 2 minute at 15kmh.
In the end the machine read, 65 as my VO2 max, and very surprisingly the only change I could readily detect was a sense of general exhaustion (as to any rumors you may have heard of gaining superpowers upon learning ones VO2 max I can tell you I have recently reached level 24 on the aptly named "The Worlds Hardest Game"). We will also be testing in the spring and then fall and spring next year so it will be interesting to see if any patterns emerge as taking only 1 test does not provide that much information. Now for a number of VO2 max facts that I have gathered so that you can be generally excepted as the VO2 max expert of your community.
- VO2 max can be written as oxygen uptake per minute (l/min) or as milliliters of oxygen per kilogram per minute (ml/kg/min) which is the more generally used number (thats where my 65 comes from)
- Men generally have a higher VO2 max when adjusted for weight but things generally even out when adjusted for surface area (don't ask me how one figures out surface area)
- The average untrained male will be at about 45 and female at about 38
- The highest VO2 max recorded is 96 by Bjørn Daehlie and another norwegian skier whose name I cannot remember but whose technique is not held in very high regard
- VO2 max peaks around ones college years and then begins to decline (at least for the general population)
- Rowers generally have the highest pure liter values but no one can contend with nordic skiers when it is adjusted for weight (bikers come closest)
- VO2 max is not a be all end all as factors like % of VO2 at which ones lactate threshold is and efficiency also play large roles in performance

If you are reading this on Saturday morning or later then you are also looking at pictures of my new ski suit and remarking to yourself how it is annoying that Swix makes the same design for everyone so that no matter what color your suit is it looks like your trying to copy the Norwegian National Team (I'd say they deserve caps).