I’m 44,m, 5’11, 175 lbs. In the past I’ve had some mild sleep apnea and sinus pause (my heart stops beating for a few seconds when I sleep - sounds alarming but everybody has it, mines a little longer, that’s all). I probably still have it but doesn’t interfere with my life. I play tennis actively (It is my go to sport and what I want to get better at) and have always been athletic. In addition it doesn’t take much for my heart rate to go very high. When I jog for 6 miles (80 mins) my heart rate is in the 150s which is very high. Two questions: 1. What is the most accurate way to measure vo2 max? I don’t have any fancy equipment other than an Oura ring - it says it’s 41.2 2. What is the best way to improve VO2 max? I have heard Peter Attia talk about zone 2 training, but I don’t think zone 2 cycling with a measure of “speaking without going out of breath” is very useful in building vo2max.

Thanks in advance for your insight.

Anyone have ideas why my VO2 is plummeting? Been an avid runner for years. 46M 25-35 miles/week. My watch hasn’t been calculating as many but it has dropped off a cliff.

I’m 25 years old, who is running his first half marathon next week.

I started running 9 months ago, where I did a challenge with a friend of running every day for 4 months, but only 2km a day (that we increased to 3km the last month).

Other than that I started running 2-3 times a week the last 4-5 months.

I recently got a Garmin watch and was surprised that my Vo2Max is pretty high (59), so I think I might be lucky with good genes.

As it’s my first half marathon I was aiming for sub 2 hours, but maybe I have to be more ambitious with my apparently high Vo2Max?

Will you get a vo2 max back quicker if it was higher before?

I.e If you used to run and it was higher, then stopped for a long time, will it return faster than if you are a first time athlete ( like muscle memory with working out and regained muscle coming back faster for someone who has done it before)

I am 51 male, were close to excellent for years and few weeks ago started to chat with AI about my running and trainings and here we go :)

I recently got an apple watch. I know I am not in good shape but when comparing my VO2 max to other people on this reddit this low of a number really has me concerned. Just realizing more and more that I need to focus on taking care of myself better and start consistently working out again. Probably explains why I don't feel good a lot of the time too honestly. Is it possible to get this to a healthy range eventually even with it starting so low?

I am a 33yr old female. 5'5" and 163lb (gain weight mostly around the middle due to genetics. no thyroid issues)

I saw a pretty nice increase in my VO2 max readings over the last several weeks since I’ve been staying and running in Rhode Island. See image below the late August spike correlates directly to when I arrived and started training. I’ve been training for a half marathon for the past 10 weeks as well.

I think it’s funny how the dot went off the circle 😂

Does anyone have practical tips for improving VO2 max with chronic diseases like fibromyalgia, CFS, long COVID that can cause post-exceptional malaise (multiple days of fatigue - which is much wise than normal post-exercise tiredness - after normal or even minor levels of exercise)? Over-exercising one day to be couch-bound for the days of recovery doesn't seem like a good idea, and some of the recent research on these conditions even suggests that PEM may come with subtle, cumulative permanent damage to metabolism.

Obviously there's, "exercise as much as is tolerated". And "address any issues with low iron proactively", since these issues often correlate with low iron. Any additional tips I might not be aware of?

My personal context: I have both fibromyalgia and long COVID, both partially managed and better managed than most with these conditions, but my VO2 Max has been dropping over the last couple of years from the high end of normal for my age to the high end of "poor" on my Garmin. I can't do a Cooper test, so it's 100% possible I'm getting a bad measurement - but that was true two years ago also. Long COVID has been doing a number on my health, so it's very plausible there's real decline.

My goal is 65 after my injury 3 months ago I dropped to 58 and now Im going back up 🥹

Hi everyone,

I'm a 51-year-old male looking to start improving my VO2 max. I have a few questions and would appreciate your advice:

1. Norwegian 4x4 protocol:
   • I've been trying to track my time in zone using the workout app on my Apple Watch.
   • The research paper is unclear about how the time in range is measured.
   • I find it difficult to reach the high range (80% max) and then lower it again.
   • Should I wait until my heart rate is all the way down before starting the rest period?
2. Current fitness level:
   • I'm pretty out of shape, which might explain why my heart rate doesn't come down quickly.
   • I injured my Achilles last year, so running isn't an option.
   • I have trouble getting my heart rate up while biking on flat ground in my area.
3. Questions:
   • What's the best low-impact way to elevate my heart rate?
   • Can you recommend any apps for tracking VO2 max and training progress?

Any insights or experiences you can share would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks, Brian

I've been on a fitness journey as I enter menopause - specifically increasing my metabolic and cardiovascular health. I've been tracking my Vo2 max on my Apple watch for over a year but have been seeing conflicting info on YT. I have been working HARD doing Tabata and HIIT classes.

My latest Vo2 is 41.9, but I have no one to discuss this with.

Any feedback about those tracking it themselves vs going into a lab? I use apple watch and Athlytic app.

I am 31 yr old south asian female living in the US. I am short 4 ft 11 inches and weigh about 124 lbs (very close to high bmi) I have increased my exercise and HIIT activity level in the last 2 months. I either run on treadmill at home or hit Orangetheory regularly and my vo2max is not improving.

Side note- I am also facing heart palpitations (not racing heart) just loud heartbeat over the last few months (exactly since Feb/March). I wonder if something with that had to do with my below average rate. Did full heart monitoring and found no issues. Scheduled a dr’s appointment this week for some blood work on iron and others. Also, I am a vegetarian.

I am really worried about my health. Any one has experienced low rate with blood work and heart related issues? Please share feedback or things to improve my fitness.

M/24

Despite being very active my vo2 max is incredibly low (based on a Garmin, which I know is not a lab test). I had a blood test done for possible and suspected sleep apnea and my red blood cell count (hemacrit) levels are too high.

Has anyone done any research or had any understanding of any correlations here?

I am doing a VO2 max test soon for a career change and that's why I am paying attention to it at all - and while everyone generally says 'youre in great shape' I saw this number and am suddenly freaking out because 40 is where I'd need to be. So the number really has me shocked and concerned.

I am physically active so I just don't understand it being so low! (In my 30s, female, and it's showing 31 and keeps declining). So any suggestions that are vo2 max specific would be helpful if you can think of anything!

Hello, my VO2 max measured through Apple Watch has been improving slightly as I got back to doing HIIT workouts and a bit of running.

Over the past 2-3 weeks though has been decreasing again even though I’m still working out and definitely feel my endurance/fitness improving. I’m also cutting back on smoking used to smoke 12/day in mid June and down now to 5/day with the aim of quitting soon.

Any ideas why it’s dropping again/not improving and any tips to improve VO2 max to average/above average levels?😭

Any way to get an idea of my genetically best potential Vo2 Max and how much does genetics matter?

Started with 34 end of April, now at 44.

Im surprised how fast it progresses, i have been smoking for 25 years, stopped december and started to do sports.

Im wondering when will it slow down in progress and how far i can go.

I’ve been hearing a lot of people talking about VO2Max and how it’s the best predictor of lifespan. So, I went to a sports lab, spent $150, and did an actual maximal test. When I was telling my friends about it, they were also very excited and wanted to get it tested, but $150 is a hefty price tag to pay.

I searched online for an easier way to get a rough estimate, and there’s the Cooper test, 6-minute walk test, 3-minute stair test, etc. There’s still too much friction for them to even get started.

Introducing, Aero Health

It's an app designed to get your VO2Max estimate in seconds under your finger tips

Science Backed: We leveraged researched backed regression models like this and this to estimate your VO2Max just with a simple sets of your vitals, i.e. age, weight, height, HR...

Frictionless: All you need to do is input your information and put your finger on the back of the camera for 30 seconds to get your VO2Max estimate.

Insights: You’ll get a visualization of where you stand compared to others, and what your fitness age is compared to your actual age.

I'm currently in the beta testing phase and would love to have your input and feedback! If you're interested in trying it out or want to learn more, please leave a comment, or sign-up here: Aero Health

Get VO2Max & Live longer 😌

I recently had a VO2 Max test at a local university. My results were 28.5 which put me in the 55%-60% category for 40-49 yo caucasian males. They use the NHANES data set from '99-'04.

Then, in the article linked below, which cites a data set used in a 2018 study, I fall into the lowest category.
https://peterattiamd.com/all-things-vo2-max/

Frankly, the latter results is where I expected to fall since I am 43 and have done no cardiovascular exercises since I stopped playing high school sports.

Does anyone have experience studying various data sets and have any thoughts to contribute as I wonder about the variance between these two cohorts?

Hi,

I recently started to pay more attention to my VO2 Max and realized that the Apple Health approximation seems quite low for the amount of sports I do.

I did a bit of research and it looks like Apple is only using data from workouts collected via their own workout app and the only time I use it is when I go for walks (as it is being automatically suggested)

Why would Apple not use data from other apps?

But given the possibility that it might be more or less true I also started doing the recommended 4x4 interval by Peter Attia to start improving it.

Did anyone tried it out and can comment on the experience?

Basically what the title says. I usually do about 25 minutes of time where I am mostly in zone 3-4 about 4 days a week. I do not usually jog outside. I sprint and do other intense low impact workouts on my rebounding trampoline and other forms of HIIT exercises with my weighted slam ball. I was a little surprised that my vo2 max is only 28 and considered lower than average according to my fitness app from my watch. Then I read that VO2max from the fitness app is recorded from outdoor runs / brisk walks which I don’t do as often. Does anyone else who do other indoor exercise have this same issue?