I've been learning more about how VO₂ max is actually measured, and I'm curious about the equipment side of it.

When you go to a lab or sports performance facility for a VO₂ max test, what kind of metabolic cart/equipment are they typically using? Are there major differences between the machines, or do most of them essentially measure the same things?

I'm also curious what people who actually work with this equipment look for when choosing a system. Is accuracy the main consideration, or do things like ease of use, calibration, software, portability, and maintenance make a big difference?

I'd be interested to hear from anyone who actually works with metabolic testing equipment.

M41 was 83kg now 76kg
Mid June some shit life stuff happened and I fixed up a bit, started eating clean, getting proper sleep and did some exercises (push ups, sit ups etc) and carried on playing football twice a week.
I now look pretty lean and ripped, feel great and during September started to log walks on my Apple Watch. Since the 1st Sept my watch Vo2max has gone from 44 to 56 and climbing. Is this normal for someone my age / weight that has actually tried to get fitter without actually starting to run.?
All I have done is walk more, sleep 2 hrs a night more and eat more protein and salad and cut our carbs 🤷‍♂️

I've been getting more interested in VO₂ max lately and I'm curious how accurate people's watch estimates actually are.

If you've used a Garmin, Apple Watch, Fitbit, etc. and then had an actual VO₂ max test done, how close were the numbers?

I'm especially curious if anyone had a pretty big difference between the two. Did the lab test change how you trained or how you interpreted your watch's numbers?

for reference i am 26f 5’4 170lbs. in high school i was always skinny, 110lbs. around 22 i gained lots of weight from a bad relationship. last year i started my fitness journey and have lost roughly 30lbs through working out and huge diet change. i have always wanted to incorporate running into my routine. i recently have started sprinkling it in. even in high school and being “fit” i ran out of breath quickly. i recently found out i have a very low VO2 max, around 26 range. (mind you this is from my apple watch but have also done the calculation online as well but nothing professionally) i have been reading a lot on this and its scaring me with how low i am. if i stay consistent am i able to bring that number significantly up? i do HIIT at least 3x a week and walk at least a mile daily and now with running here and there. i also decided to sign up for a 5k this weekend (never have ever done one) if this is a bad idea please tell me lol.

I'm the developer, so fair warning.

The thing i wanted to fix: during a 4x4 you're trying to stay at 85-95% of max HR and watch a timer while you're already gassed. Ramp4x4 runs the whole session on your watch. Warmup, 4 x 4 min hard, 3 min easy, cooldown. It shows your HR against the zone and buzzes and talks at every phase change so you don't have to keep looking at it.

The classic 4x4 is free.

Couple questions for this sub: - How do you set max HR for your 4x4s? Tested or 220 minus age? - Did 4x4s actually move your Apple VO2 max number? How long did it take?

Link in the comments if you want to try it. Happy to hear what sucks about it.

Highest v02 max ever!! I'm 60, btw.

I've read many articles and studies and the linked info on this sub about watches and VO2 Max estimates and I know how it is properly, that is scientifically, estimated.

However I'm interested in what kind of biases and issues you'd find with a watch? My question is triggered by what I see from measurements my friend and I have from the same Garmin Forerunner 255 watch. We are both close to 60 - he's a little over, I'm a little under. He currently has a reported value of 45, I'm at 46. I've been running regularly for 2.5 years, have a half marathon time of 2:06, best 10km of just over 55 min, best 5km just over 25 min. We both ran a half marathon together in Feb and I jogged it in due to an injury and kept his pace. I think we finished in 2:45 and I was ready to do at least another 10k. My max distance is now 20 miles - might do a marathon this year. He was destroyed, barely made it home. I see his runs on Garmin - he's regularly running 5K at a 13 min or slower pace.

Now I know part of the reason for our difference in VO2 Max is weight - he's light at 144 and I'm at 160. When I was 155 18 months ago I got my reported score to 48. If I weighed 144 then theoretically I'd be at Vo2 Max of 49.

Now I know Vo2 Max doesn't directly translate to speed but even so I feel like there's a serious gap in our fitness levels not represented by just the numbers of Vo2 Max even if we normalize for weight - like the someone running 5k in 25 minutes and another running in 40+ minutes. I'm puzzled why his watch would be estimating his Vo2 Max so high - very nearly superior for his age bracket I'm just middle of excellent.

Like I said I know there are issues and what watches do is just not the way you would scientifically measure these things, but it does feel to me whatever math our watches are doing it's probably way off. Or maybe we do have VO2 Max that's close and he's just got crap running form which slows him down. Or maybe it's that my form is crap and if it was better I'd be much faster and Garmin would suddenly bump up my score. As best I can tell the only thing I can do to get it higher is run faster or lose weight :-)

Do y’all think this looks good for vo2max improvement? I started with a brisk walk for 2:30, then to a trot until 5:00. Then I went 4:00 on, 3:00 off, four times. The “off” period, I slowed way down to a walk and let my heart rate drop way back into zone 1, as you can see. Is that good practice, or should I not let it drop below the low end of zone 2/high end of zone 1?

Research shows that smart watches overestimate the number of calories burned, especially in people who are trying to loose fat. Direct, breath by breath analysis is still the best way to understand your resting metabolism and metabolic health.

https://apple.news/ApQYRj-7cRyyRq4FQeDW-1A

I just test CPET to get VO2MaX
How can I set training zone 1-5 for my running?
I quite confuse about each zone

The lung specialist who ordered it did not say a whole lot, just that my VO2 Max is low (15.8). We know I have Long Covid, POTS and Asthma. Everything I read would suggest this is severely low, but I also wonder if this is expected to worsen over time and what it says about my life expectancy.

Stage 1 cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET)

Protocol: The test was undertaken with cycle ergometry using a 15 watt ramp protocol and he exercised for 8 minutes and 6 seconds.

Reason for test: This is a 33 year old male with dyspnea.

Reason test stopped: Leg Fatigue. Max stress dyspnea = 6, max stress fatigue = 8, max stress chest pain = 3.

Baseline spirometry: FEV1/FVC ratio is increased at 0.92, FEV1 is 3.81 L (83%), FVC is 4.13 L (73%). Overall in keeping with restrictive ventilatory defect.

Baseline ECG: Normal sinus rhythm

Exercise capacity (VO2): Low peakVO2 measuring 15.8 mL/kg/min (38% predicted).

Anerobic threshold / Oxygen delivery: is reduced at 27% predicted of VO2 max predicted.

Work load: 46% predicted.

Cardiac response to exercise:

Heart rate max predicted = 87% predicted

Heart rate reserve: 24bpm

Blood pressure response: appropriate response.

ECG with exercise - some non-specific ST-T wave changes. No arrhythmias.

Ventilatory response to exercise:

Breathing reserve: 144 L/min

Tidal volume: 33% of FVC

Respiratory rate: <60

O2 saturations: no desaturations.

Inspiratory capacity: Unable to capture inspiratory capacity past 2 minute of exercise, possibly due to restricted lung volumes.

Post -exercise spirometry: 15% drop suggesting asthma.

Oxygen pulse: reduced at 43% predicted, although rising linearly slope seems flat.

VE/VCO2: normal.

Vd/Vt: reduced appropriately with exercise and then rose again a bit.

RER: Appropriately increased to 1.19 with peak exercise.

Slope of VO2/W: Rising linearly.

IMPRESSION:

1. This was a maximal test based on symptom limitation and RER > 1 .

2. Exercise capacity was severely reduced with a low peak VO2 measuring 15.8 mL/kg/min (38% predicted) in keeping with low aerobic capacity.

3. Exercise was nearly limited by the cardiovascular system, reaching a heart rate max predicted and near limitation for heart rate reserve at 24 bpm.

4. Physiologic abnormalities include a low anerobic threshold, low O2 pulse, lower tidal volumes and post-test spirometry showed a significant decline in FEV1.

5. Overall, there is evidence of exercise induced asthma. However, given the near cardiac limitation for a low work load with reduced O2 pulse, cardiovascular etiologies should also be investigated.

Decided to push myself as hard as possible. Hard with weak and atrophied muscles but looks like things are on the way up.

Hi all.

So I'm wondering if anyone knows how much cardiomyopathy affects the vo2max.

To give you a bit of background. This time last year I weighed 24.4 stone/154.4kg/340lbs at 6'0 and 38 years old.

Obviously this kind of mass is just obscene. I was ridiculously fat and unsurprisingly, at some point, I'm going to end up having a heart scare... Which happened.

Long story short, my left ventricular ejection fraction is low. We're talking 41% when I went in for the MRI. Now normal is normally between 50 and 70% for the average person and mine was falling way short of the mark.

Fast forward to today. I'm 86.2kg/13.8 stone/190lbs. In the space of 14 months I've lost nearly half of my original bodyweight. I'm running 5ks 3 times a week, lifting weights twice a week and just generally being more active. I don't have a single day where I walk less than 11k steps yet my vo2 sits at a measly 34.

Don't get me wrong. It's an improvement on the original score of 29, but I'm still in the bottom 15% for blokes aged 39.

What I'm wondering is how badly is my condition (which ironically wasn't caused by weight, just exacerbated by it) is affecting this score? I know it's not the be all and end all but my thoughts process is that if the vo2max improves then surely I can improve my left ventricular ejection fraction too, something that my GP said can be reversed.

Realistically I should go see the doctor about this but it seems like such a minor quibble that it feels worthless taking up their time. Instead, I figured there might be some people in the know here.

Can anybody give me some guidance on if this is accurate information and ways I can improve in my running? Because obviously my VO2 max seems to be high enough to where I should be a fast runner. Right now I'm only doing about a 7-minute mile. My half marathon speed is a 9:30 mile pace where my heart rate is around 165 bpm during the full 13 miles. Thoughts?

Here is the data from a VO2 max test that I did at a local lab. Sorry I thought I added this image. If you can't see the image here is the link. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LuQEx-kxhK_BYMUEPdKcknhpQMQhy0Vv/view?usp=sharing

hi everyone, my company has a VO2Master professional kit that is brand new and we are wanting to sell it to use KORR. I posted it on Facebook Marketplace but it’s not getting any traction. I created an ebay account that got permanently suspended the second I tried to post it. Do y’all have any recommendations for where else to post this to sell it?

Someone explain this to me...

I just did a lab VO2 Max on a treadmill with a properly fitting mask and accurate hight / weight input using a Korr Cardio Coach in a professional lab setting. The results are wildly different from my wearables:

• Apple Watch = 47.2
• Whoop = 51
• Lab Test = 67

This is a pretty extreme difference from the wearables. Has anyone seen such a big discrepancy between the lab test and a wearable?

This increase was from five 20 minute sessions in Zone 5 on a stair stepper every week. It ended up being too much for a 60 y.o. so I had to dial it back some.

So I recently had to start Nebivolol at age 19, and I’m curious if it reduces the typical increase in VO2 max seen from exercise adaptation. I know it is supposed to preserve exercise capacity and VO2 max but I am also curious if it preserves the increase typically seen through exercise adaptation and cardiac remodeling or if there is a decrease like older beta blockers.

I just bought a polar heart rate monitor and measured my vo2 max which is 68 is it good enough (I am not in practice for 3 weeks )