a pal of mine was telling me about a place in town that does the VO2Max testing, etc. Apparently is 225.00 for 2 visits (a first time and then a follow up to track improvement).
granted it’s not a ton of money, but I don’t even know if this information would benefit me. I’m sure I’m average, or just slightly above. he was saying that it might help me identify how many calories to eat in a day, etc (would like to loose at least 10 pounds)
I’m a low tech athlete, always have been (data is not my thing, I don’t do charts, graphs, or any kind of thing like that). is getting this done really going to do anything for me, in your opinion? if so, what?
IMHO it would really only be benificial if they also test your anaerobic/aerobic thresholds and if you plan on using a HRM in your training. You stating that ‘I’m a low tech athlete’ gives me the impression that you wouldn’t get much out of it.
my coach does have me using a HRM, and I wear it 95% of the time, and do not swim with it. I’m not really even sure what my HR is supposed to be though. (embarrassed to admit)
in general i go by: 130-145 easy, 146-155 medium, 156-165 harder
Another poster on this board (smartin) once told me that V02 testing was a double edged sword: you can find your potential, however if it is low you will know your limits to race performance (not so good), if it is high then you know you have the opportunity to be very fast (good). He says it is useful for an athlete getting into the sport to see if they have the potential to make a career of it as a pro.
interesting you should mention that, because I’m concerned taht if it’s low I would feel just awful about it. even though there is room for improvement, I can see how it could impend preconceived notions.
Even though I’ve got big lungs, used to be an oboe player, and am certainly training a decent amount (6-7 hours in transition/start of base period), I feel a little intimidated by it (probably because it’s so foreign to me, the whole test itself).
VO2max testing might be useful to you, depending upon how you want to train.
Example: If you like some of Veronique Billat’s training ideas (i.e. the 30 second work/30 second recovery intervals at the speed where you first hit your VO2max), then it will be useful to you because you will then know precisely what the speed is you ought to be doing those intervals at. However, if you do your intervals at a speed which gets you within maybe 10 beats of your max heart rate, you are probably doing something similar. The question is whether the info is worth the $$$ to you.
It is also useful for bragging to your friends, and for tracking increases in fitness. The downside is that it isn’t really a “real world” test, unless they strap one of those portable Vo2 meters to your back and have you run around a track, rather than on a treadmill.
Personally, I would be more interested in an LT test, that is, finding out the speed associated with your LT threshold, and using that to direct your training. YMMV, of course.
With respect, I would say this is a waste of money for two reasons:
VO2 max is only indirectly related to performance in longer endurance events
The more important parameter is your Lactate Threshold and your efficiency at that level of intesity.
If you have an HRM you can get a rough idea of the two most important heart rates as follows:
For Max HR: Run as hard and fast as you can for 2 - 3 miles, then find a really steep hill that is 200m long “sprint” up that hill as hard as you can - lungs should be bursting out of your chest, legs screaming and you may feel like you are going to die. This is pretty darn close to your Max HR. NOTE - If new to training, before doing this be sure to have a full medical with your doctor before doing this.
For Lactate Threshold:Find a race that will take about one hour to run( 10K for some, 15K for others) Make sure it is your best effort over that distance. You average HR over the course of the race will be pretty close to your Lactate Threshold.
I had it done as part of an overall fitness test. I mostly wanted my bf % measured acurately and decided to get the VO2max done at the same time. I have to say that the info is completely useless to me. My numbers are very low, but it means nothing to me as far as how I conduct my training. I also have some problems with the way the tests were done. They did a wingate test on me first to determine my anaerobic power. Well, that test completely trashed my legs, so when I had to do the VO2max test on the treadmill my legs were jelly. I think I had to stop way too early because of that (I was worried about falling off the t/m!).
I certainly wouldn’t pay that much to have it done! I’ve had mine done 3x, once last season and twice this - but all three times were done gratis, as part of a study for a PHd candidate’s thesis study.
The downsides to doing it this way are that the test protocol isn’t ideal for what I’m looking for, and they don’t always take the measurements I’m looking for. The plus side, is that they measure things that might not have occurred to me, and also it’s free. I also like playing lab rat - it’s fun! I walked in for a test while they were wrapping up with one of the elite cyclists (some dude from a pro team in Poland) and he was “resting” at ~300W!
If there’s a university with an exercise physiology lab near you, it might be worth dropping off your contact info as a potential test subject. Free data, and fun times.
As for things learned (ie, shit I didn’t already know):
~I have a slightly above average hematocrit level (47)
~I have a significantly above average economy (87 Watts/L/min)
~Although my absolute VO2max isn’t bad (3.43L/min) my excessive body weight drags down the relative number to a paltry 42.1(ml/kg/min)
~Aet is somewhere around 130-135bpm
The final verdict? I could be faster if I trained more and lost weight/improved body composition. Gee, it doesn’t take a fancy lab test to tell me that. But it was fun, and in a few months I should get some kickass echo pictures/movies of my heart and bloodflow.
I also had VO2 max tested as part of physiology study.
Not only do I question the relevance of the results to long course racing - but I also question the consistency of results from lab to lab.
I have that book “Lore of Running” where there are several predictive tables for predicting run times according to VO2 max. For a given VO2 max, the predicted run speed varies wildly from table to table.
So, the VO2 value is pretty useless to me.
Also, during ironman, I can beat guys whose VO2max values are most certainly much higher than mine. I think it is just one of many variables.
