Anyone else see this?
“So how far did Björn go? Bear in mind that Lance Armstrong’s Vo2 Max has been measured around 88 when you consider that Björn hit his maximum heart rate (190) at 11:15, when his Vo2 Max measured an astounding 90.6.”
http://www.insidetri.com/news/fea/3042.0.html
Pretty cool article. Bjorn’s Vo2Max is off the charts.
A quick search on the web and I found the following.
http://revelsports.com/Articles/VO2_Max.htm
id like to know what robwaddle…sydney gold medallist single sculls. vo2 max was.
You also need to look at their asbolute VO2Max not the VO2Max per kg (relative VO2Max) - if Lance weighs, I dunno, 70kilos (to make the math easier) then his absolute VO2Max would be 6300mL/min. If Bjorn weighs I dunno, 75kilos, then his abs. VO2Max would be nearly 6800mL/min - a big difference all right. But if their weights are reversed (say LA is 75kg and BA is 70kg) then we get LA: 6600mL/min vs. BA: 6342mL/min). In the cycling world they prefer to look at absolute VO2Max for comparison purposes because of the fact you’re not really hauling yer own weight around the same way you are when running… or some such story. Also because when weight is gained or lost, the relative VO2Max score would change even if there has been no change to the absolute VO2Max score.
AP
Here is an interesting article with a lot of numbers from Deena Kastor’s coach:
The Anatomy of a Medal
http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_1/the-anatomy-of-a-medal.shtml
.
Cool! thx for posting!
I think it’s funny that Lance’s VO2max keeps getting higher every time I read about it. It is like a “fish” story. First time I read it, it was about 75 or so (this was when he won the first TdF in '99). After that, it has steadily climbed to 78, 80, 82, 85, and, most recently, 88…
That say’s Deena had a VO2max of 81.5. That is about 10% higher than the previous record for a woman (posted in this thread). It is also, from what I’ve heard, impossible to raise VO2max by 10+% which she did (going from 70.2 to 81.5). She either lost a LOT of weight, which seems very unlikely or was totally untrained when they did the first test, also unlikely (even at 50mpw, she should have hit her VO2). Or is the conventional wisdom about VO2max being “fixed” bogus?
JasonGK, where are you??
Thanks for the link, that was interesting reading.
Even though I’m waiting for the article that says that the highest woman is at 90, highest man is at 100 and Lance is at 110…
10% is the high end of what someone can gain if they are in decent shape. Most folks gain around 4% from early season to peak season.
IIRC the record at UC Davis is like 82.1. TdF rider Fast Freddy held it for a few years and some young kid came along and beat it a year or so ago.
90 is pretty darn high.
Hello,
I don’t know if you watched the women’s marathon in Athens… but she indeed lost a LOT of weight. She was never big but she was particularly gaunt at the Olympics.
http://www.benardot.com/2004Olympics_DeenaKastor1.jpg
Maybe ShawnF could comment since, if I remember well, she is/was sponsored by Asics.
Cheers,
Alex
I’m mostly having trouble believing Deena is close to 10% higher than the highest measured score I’ve ever seen for a woman. Her score would be scary high for a man…
Scary high? Nothing scary about it… 
Hello Dave or other,
Did you understand the following paragraph toward the end of the article (Training Intensities)? I am asking because Vigi/web publisherl made a few typos… and it just seems weird.
I thought that those goals were accomplished through longer/slower runs i.e. what he describes in 3.
Cheers,
Alex
Right Alex. The standard model is that the adaptations you list between the asterisks occur during long duration low intensity training.
According to her coach, Dr Joe Vigil, Deena, in fact, recorded one of the highest VO2 ever while at the USOTC. She has a huge engine but her success comes from that fire that the great ones have. As for her losing a LOT of weight, you are completely wrong. Her off-season weight is around 110lbs and her race weight, whether it be Athens or Chicago, is closer to 100lbs. She typically runs 130-140 miles per week and eat likes a horse. While Deena may have looked ‘gaunt’ to you, to me she looked like an Olympic Marathon medalist.
That’s what I thought too.
Alex
I stand corrected. It just seemed that her cheeks were fuller in 2001-2002, and she broke a handful of records at the time (so she must have been peaking as well).
Cheers,
Alex
Wadell’s absolute VO2 score would be through the roof but since VO2 max scores are relative based on body weight his score (and most rowers) are a bit lower. Waddell is about 6ft, 7in and 200-220lbs; or for our friends overseas about 200cm and 100kg.
Hello Dave or other,
Did you understand the following paragraph toward the end of the article (Training Intensities)? I am asking because Vigi/web publisherl made a few typos… and it just seems weird.
I thought that those goals were accomplished through longer/slower runs i.e. what he describes in 3.
Cheers,
Alex
Here’s Andrew Coggan’s description of the benefits of the various levels of training: http://www.cyclingpeaks.com/levels.html. It clearly states that mitochondrial density and capillarization are best increased with level 4 (“2x20s”) or level 5 work (3-8 minute efforts). There is nothing that longer/slower riding (levels 1 and 2) will do for you that higher level work won’t do better.