Has anyone ever had their VO2 MAX tested?***********************

2000 I scored 68 three times at the age of 38, but was running slow 5Ks. VO2Max means not much...what you can do with it means more.

76 a couple monthes ago and not running much due to injury at the time. RedDragon is right, Vo2max really doesn't mean much. You could have two runners of equal Vo2max and equal lactate threshold and one runner beats the other in a 5k easily. The difference is running economy...how much O2 you consume at a given speed or the other way around. So you could have two runners like the above, each run the race consuming 70 ml/kg/min but one runner is running 4:50 pace while the other is running 4:55 pace. This is why after a year or so Vo2max training (intervals) does little to improve Vo2max but mostly improves velocity at Vo2max. The same could be said for running at any speed. Running at a certain velocity over time will improve your economy at that velocity.

Compared to world class runners anything over 70 is good. There have been many world class marathoners with Vo2max's in the high 60s.

Alan

This may not be what you looking to see, but it may be of assistance :

http://www.time-to-run.com/theabc/vo2.htm

Mountain runner Matt Carpenter tested at ~90. Granted, he has run some very fast high altitude times, and qualified for the Olympic Trials in the marathon, he hasn't ever run a *really* fast time. In a nutshell ... it doesn't mean much.

Yeh, had mine tested in Dallas back in '74......it was 84!

What I forgot to also have tested was my alcoholic max intake!

I heard a story that Mel Brodt, Dave Wottle's coach, refused the lab at Bowling Green permission to test Wottle in his senior year ('73). Brodt said, "Those results might come back telling Dave that he doesn't have what it takes to be an Olympic Champion and world record holder, and he simply doesn't need those distractions."

Bjorn Daelie tested a 96.

Pointman,

Your VO2max is relatively good, even for runners. The average untrained male's V02max is probably less than 40ml/kg/min. There have been world class distance runners with VO2's in the 60's. (i.e. Derek Clayton reportedly scored 69 on his VO2max, and he had a WR marathon at one point).

As runningart and others suggest, there are many other factors to determine your running success. What's more interesting about your test results is to look for data that will help you design your training.

-max HR

-HR plateaus at aerobic and anaerobic threshold

-55%-75% VO2 max speeds for determining pace for base mileage

I scored a 98.9.

I registered an 82% MaxVO2 about 20 years ago and ran only in the mid 14:30s for a track 5K at the time. The test was done by a university research group that was very experienced with such things, so I trust the results. Based on what I've read of Jack Daniels' since then, the relatively slow times were probably an indication that my economy (i.e., pace at a given % of max) was pretty poor. I guess tempo runs are just the thing to improve economy, but back then I didn't know what a tempo run was. We ran either hard intervals or easy runs (around 6:30 pace) and almost nothing in between.

There are a lot of theories about how to improve running economy. Jack Daniel's says to do short/fast repetitions, Pfitzinger says total time spent running over a career improves running economy likely because of the gradual change in the oxidative abilities of the fast twitch fibers both a and b. Both agree that both aspects help to improve running economy, they just differ on which is more important. My thinking is that if you train at a certain speed you will become more economical at that speed. So say you are running 5:00 miles at a Vo2 of 60 ml/kg/min. Over time if done enough workouts at this speed your Vo2 may lower to say 58 ml/kg/min. Remember that training adaptations are very specific to your workout. Remember that old saying that doing the same workout over and over again will make you very good at doing that workout?

Both Pfitz and Daniels are correct. Short fast repetitions work to improve running form and reduce wasting motion which will add to running economy. Improving the oxidative ability of your fast twitch fibers over time with lots of mileage will reduce the amount of O2 needed to maintain a given speed. Also, studies have shown that while Vo2max and Lactate Threshold reach a steady level after a few years, running economy keeps on improving with training.

Alan

I wrote:

I registered an 82% MaxVO2 . . . blah blah blah

Wow, that was pretty stupid. That should have been 82 mL/kg/min, of course.