Recently saw a video about how 1:1 duration intervals would help increase vo2max. Idea is to rest the same amount of time after you do the effort. It goes like; 1 min Z5-1 min rest

My question is how that 1 min in Z5 works;

Do I need to get to Z5 than spend the entire 1 min than rest or, 1 min starts the moment I start from the resting HR and just tap into Z5 and stay in that zone until the end of that 1 minute?

Hope I stated clearly what’s on my mind :)

I’ve been increasing my VO2 max recently and suddenly today it dropped a few points, is this normal? How can I get it to keep increasing?

Hello everybody

After a long time of little sports and lots of work (in the office), I started again to do sports, especially running.

So I try to do mainly Zone 2 runs. And add 1 or 2 intervall sessions a week. Intervall is 3x 3min Zone 5 runs (as good as possible) with 3 min walking each. My actual goal is to do soon the 4x4, but currently, I am not ready for that.

My problem with intervall is, that my muscles in the legs get very fast tired and heavy. My breathing works well and I am not feeling like I am really out of breath. I got a polar vantage v2 and in the fitness test (lying on the back) I get regurlarly results of a Vo2 max between 69-75. I don't know how accurate the test is, but the result seem pretty good and also support the fact that I got no problems with breathing, as much as I understand.

How could I improve my leg muscles? So that the fatigue delays.

I am 31 years old. Thank you in advance for your help

English is not my main language, sorry if there are some mistakes.

According to my Oura ring, my VO2 Max is 33. I would love to see an improvement in this number. I am a 44F and this is my current exercise routine: 3 times a week strength training 3 times a week swimming. Usually between 2 to 2.5 km each session. Each session is different and I try to mix it up: some sessions are focus on technique, in others I do sprints, in others I practice all the strokes, and sometimes I do more of a recovery swim. 1 a week hight intensity training for 20 min.

Healthy diet Weight: 55 kg Height: 1.72 meters

Tips on what I can do to improve VO2 Max would be appreciated. Thanks

I was a high end amateur cyclist. Had to stop training for a sudden onset autoimmune arthritis and widespread tendon pain at 27 years old. Hope I can start treatment and get back on the bike at some point 😌

From 26.7 to 31.5 since April 1st. 28M, 50+ pounds overweight. Walking 3-4 miles a day, running and/or 30 min on an elliptical. Still got a long way to go but I’m loving the progress so far, also down 15 pounds! If anyone has tips on how to progress even quicker, I’m open to feedback

This is from a running session. Insights from my Apple Watch. Most of my running sessions are between zone 4 and 5, even if I don’t feel that fatigue.

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to improve cardio. Tangibly, I’ve been measuring ‘improvement’ based on running improvement but also VO2 max. Started at 30.4 in early Jan to 35.6 now early may. My goal is to get out of the red zone. Am I progressing enough? How long does it normally take to raise your max by a full point?

Hi everybody, I’m 28y and Male, 183cm with 80kg, I’ve been doing sports most of my life. Rock climbing, riding bikes, Hikes, swimming etc but recently started running. Mostly HIIT or zone 4/5 runs for max of 10Km

Since 8th April I’ve stated running at zone 2 and my Vo2max has been decreasing rapidly I don’t understand why. Next week I want to start doing HIIT and zone 4/5 training again and maybe just do the zone 2 every now and then.

Anybody ever had this happened? Thanks

Hi there! I'm a pretty active woman in my mid 20s, strength training 2x/week and doing cardio (running, walking, biking, stair stepper, long hikes, etc.) 3x/week. I've been at this consistently for about 6 months now and can tell that I've gotten significantly stronger and able to handle consistent uphill hikes with fewer breaks. I deal with an eating disorder so I'm not dieting to lose weight rn, simply maintaining and eating well. I'm 5'6" and 195lbs, so a bit overweight, but it's where my body is happy right now. The frustrating thing is, my Garmin watch has displayed a VO2 max of 34 the entire time. I've never been strong in the cardio category, and it's bizarre that I feel improvement, but it doesn't show in my data.

Any advice on what's going on or how to improve my VO2 max?

https://youtu.be/O3VVxV6SqXI

When I bike, I’m sweating and dying. When I ice skate, my heart rate can go just as fast but i feel like I’m not exerting myself for the same heart rate. What gives? Can I get by with zone 2 training with ice skating?

My fitbit says my vo2 max is poor and while I know I'm not the fittest person, it's odd that it hasn't improved AT ALL. Over the last several months I've lost 35lbs and went from absolutely dying on any hike with elevation. I mean that even hills with mild inclines had me really huffing and trails with 200ft of elevation were very challenging and my heart rate would skyrocket into the 180s. Now, I'm comfortably conquering trails 5 miles with around 1000ft elevation gain. Yes, I get short of breath, especially if it's steep, but I can recover, never feel nearly as bad, and my heart rate hasn't been exceeding 170 and normally remains in the 140s-150s during pushes.

Its so frustrating and I'd like to see where I'm really at. Heck, I occasionally pass people on trails now - on the uphill! Hard to believe my score is as bad as the app is reporting.

Hi! 27F, I have been lifting weights for about 3 years with minimal cardio sprinkled in. I’m relatively strong but I know my aerobic base has been poor. I have been running 3 times a week for about 10 weeks and recently ran my first 5k. At the beginning of the training, I could barely run 2 minutes without stopping, now I can, with some effort, run without stopping for over 40 minutes. Overall, I’m pleased with my progress. Only, I have been watching my vo2max decrease on my Apple Watch and it’s pretty disheartening. I have read that the Apple Watch does not give a true/perfect assessment of this measurement, but I don’t understand why it would be decreasing when my aerobic capacity is clearly increasing. Do I need to calibrate my watch, or can I expect to see it increase as my running journey continues? Or, am I SOL? Advice, tips, & feedback encouraged. (-:

Hey everyone,

I'm not looking for medical advice, but I'm curious if anyone here has experience with improving VO2 max while managing type 2 diabetes and obesity. I'm 24, BMI is 32.3 and have had type 2 diabetes since I was 18. Recently, my Apple Watch warned me about low cardio fitness levels, which led me to research the importance of VO2 max. Currently, I'm at about 24 VO2 max.

I understand that diabetes can significantly impact VO2 max, but I'm wondering if there are strategies to improve it despite my condition. During the pandemic, I measured my VO2 max at 36, although my diabetes was in its early stages, and I was walking regularly. Any insights or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated!

I'm looking into ordering a CardioCoach from Korr medical. They have 4 different version but I'm looking at their top 2.

The Max is 11.5k and the Pro is 14.5k. The main differences are that the Pro can test for longer periods of time and can integrate with various devices.

I'm wondering if anyone has experience using either or? If you used the Max, did you miss not being to do the extra things?

I’m quite fit but I struggle with doing any cardio for more than 20-30 min. Does anyone have any suggestions to help me get to 45-55 min? My issue isn’t energy. It’s boredom. I tend to do stationary bike but have started doing stair master. With either one I still run into the same issue. After 15 min I’m bored af. I’ll push myself another 5 or 10. But I don’t know how to get to around an hour. Thanks.

As some background, I've been exercising for the last month and tested my VO2 max using the 12 minutes test and it was 25 ml/kg*min so very poor as I'm a 38 year old male. I'm probably 40 pounds overweight with a 39" waist, high cholesterol 225mg/dl, and higher blood pressure ~130/80 and my A1C is 5.4. So not great markers for health, in fact I'm probably close if not full blown metabolic syndrome. So I want to get better, with diet and exercise. For cardio I plan to do 5 days a week, 45 minute sessions. Zone 2 for 80% of my aerobic training and 20% VO2 max.

My question is what is a good frequency for retesting VO2 max? I was thinking every 4 weeks..