some comments:

-60 by itself is not really interesting. what is interesting is the speed or the power output at Vo2max (as it relates vo2 and economy)
-did you test on the bike or the run?
-what was the protocol?
-to be honest anaerobic LT at 95% is very unlikely. for elite athletes 90-92% is extremely high.
-what was the protocol to find this value? if they just used 4mmol of lactic acid, then it is 99% sure it is overestimated.

to give real insights, we'd need

-protocol (direct gaz measurements), length of steps, like 3' steps, increase by 25w every 3' or 1km/h faster every 3' on the run
-bike or run
-speed or power output, HR and lactate values at
aerobic thr. anaerobic thre. and Vo2max

I always wanted to get this tested for me. It seemed really interesting and something cool to know about myself.

Can someone explain to me what it exactly is though? Just for some more info. =) I know the basics, I think.

I flunked my VO2 Max test. I thought it was supposed to be multiple choice.

---

Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

Hi Francois sounds like you have a good understanding of this stuff,maybe you can anwser some questions,Had VO2 max test months ago and do not know what all this means,resting HR 66 (high because i walked to the test, 60 or lower during the day is normal)Resting Lactate 1.5(mmol/L) Maximal Oxygen Consumption 5.37(L/min) 50.9(ML/Kg/Min) Max Work 450 watts Maximal Lactate 2min.post:7.7mmol max heart rate 190bpm Lactate threshold (LT) Velocity (80rpm):290 Watts %of heart rate max:88% Heart rate at LT:167 My Max HR is really around 213 i just wanted to do a good sitting Time trial effort and was tired going into test. I have know idea of how to feel about these numbers,i can TT at 180 BPM but i think that i might train to hard,if thats is possible,Any help with this would be appreciated.Randall

it's hard to answer without more information (same thing I asked Bearis). Most labs used different protocols and some are (notoriously) inaccurate.

Vo2max normally is not subject to interpretation. Usually the vo2max found is the right one. Power can be lower if the test lasts too long (such as 5' step instead of 3'), but the difference are not really important, the HR is normally the same.

where it differs is with respect to LT which is a bad name. more accurately it is the onset of blood lactate accumulation or also called maximal lactate steady state. It is the max pace you can sustain with the production of lactate is equal to its clearance (it is cleared through a process called neoglycogenesis).
At this pace, you reached a lactate value that remains steady as long as pace is constant (sligthly slowing down actually due to HR drift, heat etc...).

When you test in a lab they generally find it by plotting lactate vs speed or power and the second deflection point corresponds to maxlass (or LT), the first is aerobic threshold (roughly the max pace to increase the capillaries, endurance etc...generally it is spot on IM pace). Trouble when estimating the LT this way is that some people do not have deflection point and some have the steady state elsewhere.
To confirm it, you should have an other test like 15' at 95%, 15' at 100% and 15' at 105% of LT to confirm the value and see if it is really steady.
My first test gave LT way below what it was really as was confirmed in the same lab, same instruments etc...with a steady pace test.

Maybe you have the same problem that LT is only estimated at 167 but is not accurate. To be able to use that on the road, I'd rather do a 30' time trial and use this value as the LT.

hope this helps.

Thanks Francois Forgot to mention, Bike test told them i would use around 90 rpm but bike had real short cranks and i am used to 180mm/177.5mms so my Rpms were around 100/110 real fast for me they drew blood every two minutes till last few minutes then every minute.If i look at the chart they gave me the Maximal oxygen Consumption (VO2 max) at 5.37(L/Min0 puts me in the elite group, the relative Vo2 max 50.9 puts me in the Trained group. Thanks Randall

Here's a web site I like for seeing what a VO2Max number means

http://www.sirius.on.ca/running/vo2.shtml

You can use it to see the running race times that are theoretically possible for your V02Max. For example, with a VO2Max of 60 you are capable of delivering enough oxygen to run a 2:45 marathon. This of course assumes a lot of training.

Not Francois but have a bit of an understanding. The most important thing to me during an incremental test is %Max HR at lactate threshold (the "second turnpoint") and power at this level. Reason: A couple of studies have shown that your %MHR at lactate threshold stays the same during the season but your power or speed for running will hopefully increase. The best way to measure performance is just that, a performance. Do 30' and 60' TTs. For a 30' TT you should be able to hold 90% of MHR and for 60' about 85%.

hope that helps a bit.

andrew

Francois-- I got tested a month ago-- what they told me, is that another way of estimating lactic treshold is by looking at the point where RQ passes 1,00.(0.99-1.01) This seems to correlate perfectly with my actual performance ability. A trad. lactate test (4mmol as guidance) I had done a little earlier, underestimates my actual LT by about 10bpm. Do you have any experience with this 1.00RQ 'threshold'?

Going back to the 'LT at 95% of maxHR is too high'-- it may be that during the test, you did not reach full max. As such, they would have used your test-date max to estimate %, thus giving the arbitrarily high %estimate. Its happened to me-- for some reason as yet undefined, my HRmax was 10bpm lower on given test day than it usually is. If I used that HRmax to calculate my LT, I would also get an estimate of 95%HRmax, but I know it is lower. Could this be the case?

Brent F -- nice site. I wish I could reach those numbers! My VO2 is about the same as the guy's, and he was nice enough to do all the calculations/inputs for me. I see you on the 'this of course assumes a lot of training' and raise you 'as well as some pixie dust'.



Z

Ziva, I know what you mean about wishing you could reach the numbers. The site predicts a 2:35 marathon time for my VO2Max where my last marathon was 3:42.

I do find knowing my VO2Max motivates me in races. If I start to get tired and want to slow down I give myself heck for not pushing myself to anywhere near my potential and pick up the pace.

the problem in estimating times based on Vo2 only is that Vo2 does not take into account stride efficiency or pedal stroke.
With a sub 70 Vo2, Derek Clayton should have never run a marathon in 2h08-!
My Vo2max is 79 on the run and 81 on the bike. Yet, I can find plenty of kenyans running (and non kenyans) running faster than my pb (2h24').

as for LT based on QR, generally it gives a pretty good estimate, more reliable than deflection point on a curve.

Francois-- on that note, V02 varying between disciplines, have you found that you get a different reading depending on how much time/training volume you have spent on the particular discipline before the test, or are your VO2 values for biking/running always the same span apart? Ie, if you spent most of your time on running, and neglected biking for a while, do you think those numbers would reverse?



Ziva