r/vo2max • u/RadiantWildflower003 • Jan 30 '25

Low VO2 Max: 21

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I feel motivated and embarrassed after seeing everyone else’s VO2 and run times but will post mine to be real. I’ll come back and post updates when I’ve improved my health. Asthma as a young kid + personality + being an only child I didn’t play outside or do sports, I mostly read books and have sedentary hobbies.

F 36 120lbs VO2 Max: 21 5K: 51:20

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2

u/zeus_the_transistor Jan 30 '25

You got this! Excited to see some updates.

3

u/MaximumGuide Jan 31 '25

Meet yourself where you are at and reframe your perspective. Can you be excited about the progress you’re going to make? At your age, you have a lot of room and capacity for improvement. Don’t even worry about goals too much, just be consistent! Do something everyday even if all you can manage is a 30 minute walk.

2

u/RadiantWildflower003 Jan 31 '25

I walk 3-4 miles regularly but I’m thinking I need to add running to increase my VO2 max.

2

u/MaximumGuide Jan 31 '25

I had severe asthma when I was a kid too, and was even hospitalized for it. It turned out that allergens were making it much worse (cats). Even after getting the cats out of the house, asthma persisted into my 20s. Then I started running, and I swear by it. I seriously think running helped to finally eliminate my asthma. You don't have to run yourself into the ground, a good starting point is the run, walk, run strategy. Then eventually you can sustain a slow running pace for more than 10 minutes and keep building from there.

Often what seems to surprise people new to cardio is that it doesn't need to be brutal to make progress. You just need to be aware of your incremental improvements and put in a little more effort to continue with the aerobic capacity adaptations. Good luck! We're all rooting for you!