Best workouts to increase vo2max

Better to become a more efficient runner than to overly concerned yourself with being able to consume large amounts of oxygen.

Decrease demand is more practical through training.

5 x 3 mins @2km pace, recovery is 3 min jog at 60% of that pace.

lexel wrote:

OTOH wrote:

The average human can only increase their baseline vo2 max by 10-20%, depending on which expert you ask, . .

VO2max is proportional to mass of mitochondria and can be increased up to 100% compared to the normal condition. These are long term adpatations for several years, by continiously increasing the training volume.

Yes, long term adaptions over years. But 100% increase? Sorry no, but we may be talking about different measurements. The common definition of VO2 max is divided by bodyweight, the units being mL/(kg·min). Maybe absolute value can increase 100% never thought about that before, but it's not relevant. E.g. cycling performance is often gauged by FTP (avg max watts/hour), somewhat related to Vo2 max. The higher the better, but an obese person with FTP of 400 watts will be no where near as fast as a 130 pound person with FTP of only 200 watts.

Real life running example: average male with average baseline Vo2 max of 40 mL(kg.min) achieves 20% improvement which yields a value of about 51, which corresponds to about a 40 minute 10k. They can of course reduce time other ways (lactate tolerance, economy etc), but that's a typical top end time for an average male. There's no way they will ever be a sub 30 minute runner if their baseline was 40 mL/(kg-min)**, and that still would not even be close to a 100% increase.

Super responder example: Lance Armstrong purportedly had a VO2 max of low 60, untrained, after months of cancer treatment. After years of training he maxed out at 85. That's "only" 41% increase in a freakish super responder, who was guilty of PEDs that would artificially inflate this number.

** artificial case of 100% increase: if Lance or some other person with freakish genetics was at one point also grossly obese, then maybe they could increase their heavily down regulated VO2 max by 100%, but that's fudging the scenario, like those guys selling supplements to look like a body builder, they just take the summer off and get fat, take a photo, then return to their previous ripped physique.

what pace would you aim for on these?

That 3k is impossible. That’s 4x1500m at 3k pace

Here's someone who increased her VO2 max a bunch:

docs.google.com

Deena Kastor - Anatomy of a Medal

The Anatomy of a Medal One of the most compelling success stories of the Athens Olympics was the performance of the U.S. Team in the Marathon. These outstanding performances were the result of not only exceptional talent and...

Link:docs.google.com/document/d/13PZNNAJaUW...

>go to norway

>ahhh I have asthma I'm going INSANE

>profit

That point about the muscular system is really cool and I've never heard it before, although it makes sense. I'd imagine the recruitment of more muscle fibers means your body has increased demand for oxygen and is forced to adapt. But as you mention that doesn't always equal better running since those muscles may not be ideal for running and could slow you down. Cool fact!