Aerobic development - how long does it take for an adult

If you figure it out and apply yourself correctly, huge development only takes months. Few can do this. If you get help and really give it your best, it could take years. If you end up injured, stale, can't find the right mix of intensities ... who knows?

vo2 max and aerobic endurance are different things. vo2 max can only be improved a small amount, maybe 10-20%. to achieve a high vo2 max you need to be working your lungs whilst your body is still developing i.e. during childhood and adolescence. after that it's too late.

aerobic endurance can be improved steadily almost without limit. which is why many slower runners focus on marathon distance because vo2 max is less important, whilst running economy and aerobic endurance are more important, both of which can be achieved by simply running more consistently.

I think you can expect large gains if you start running daily/doubles for the first 3 years. After it will slow down, but you can still make gains for the first 10 years of consistent Aerobic training.

i think renato canova said upto 10 years

I think we are mixing different things here. Aerobic means in practice something about how good endurance we have. That is due to several factors. One thing is how much oxygen can get to the muscles, another thing is how efficient the muscles are to generate force given that oxygen - call it running economy. A third factor is fatigue resistance, how long we can run at a sustainable pace before we start to fatigue and the economy is worsened or the muscles increasingly fail to work. Oxygen uptake is pretty fast to increase centrally, but out there in the muscles, the capillaries and aerobic capabilities of the muscle cells takes longer. I belive running economy in general takes a long time. Fatigue resistance also increases over years of training. Typically, aerobic qualities are best developed with volume. Easy volume, or controlled volume, like the Ingebrigtsen does. I don't think too hard training works here.

I've always suspected this to be the case but had this actually been proven? Is there some kind of physiological adaptation to training that happens in the heart and/or lungs only during adolescence that cannot be replicated as an adult? Would love to read more if you have any links to material. Thanks!

What can you run for 10k? That would tell us how bad your aerobic really is .

Tested how?

Lab in a mask, I estimate it to be around 64-65 right now, will retest at the end of November

It takes 10,000 hours to master something.

37-39mins range I suppose, I will run one next month after Im done with shorter races

I am not sure we really know or have any concluding evidence. There is evidence the genetic potential is available also at older age, but of course there are other aging mechanisms that slow you down as well. Normally it seems a physically active childhood is very positive. That does not mean training, but being active.

I was a sprinter through college, finished school and started running 5ks. My first was 21 min. I ran an 800 in 2:08 and a mile in 4:40 for grub to see what I could do. Over a few years learning how to train I got my 5k time down to 16:30. Now I’ve figured things out a bit more and I’m running 15:30 and hope to go much lower. All this is to say that you have to see where your potential is, and train consistently over time to find that out.

I’d recommend forgetting about vo2 max. People get obsessed about a number defining your potential but that’s just not how it works.

Definitely but not with 15 - 20 miles per week. IMO you need to get up to a 6/7 mile daily run to achieve a "proper aerobic engine." This will require small, incremental increases in daily mileage.

How many years did that take to get from 21 to 15.30?