does losing weight increase v02 max?

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No effect on VO2 max, you have the same lungs heavy or light. Losing weight down to a certain level, you should get a bit faster for distance running, because you can use your VO2 to move less mass. It is not true that the lighter you get the faster you get, below your best weight you will run worse.

From what little knowledge of V02 Max I have, I know that the measuring system does rely on weight as a factor, but no losing weight will not increase lung volume. Losing weight will only work if there is weight to be lost, otherwise it will only hurt you.

Yes. It increases VO2Max because this measure is expressed as the amount of oxygen processed per min per kilogram body weight. (O2 per min/kg) So if you lose weight the denominator decreases and the value increases. All else being equal (a HUGE assumption) you should be able to run faster. How much faster is pretty much a guess.

Yes, it will increase VO2 max because if you look at the nomenclature it is a measure of milliliters of O2 per kilogram of of body weight per minute. How much it affects performance, I don't know. I would assume that losing weight would help your running economy as well, which is a measure of how much O2 is needed to run at a certain pace. If you have less body weight (fat) it is easier to run and would require less O2. This is probably more important than VO2 max for performance. (Frank Shorter is a good example). On the other hand your absolute VO2 max will not change which is just Liters of Oxygen used per min. So, take from it what you will.

Humphrey

Hanson's ODP

B.A.A. Central Michigan University- Clinical Exercise Science

Currently working on M.S. -Clinical Exercise Science, Oakland University

Yep it does. This is one reason why mileage increases VO2max. You lose weight and lung capacity stays the same or increases.

Also, the less fat and crap the oxygen has to diffuse around, the faster it is transported.

Assuming the weight you lose is fat mass and not muscle mass, VO2max will increase with weight loss since, like others have said, it is measured in ml/kg/min. VO2max (or distance running performance) has nothing to do with the size of your lungs, however.

Jason

Actually, as long as the VO2 processed stays the same, any weight loss would raise VO2max for the reasons already stated: it is divided by your mass in kilograms.

And yes, losing a pound drops 2.0 seconds off of everyone's mile ability. If El G could just drop 2 pounds he would have run 3:39 ... except not.

since when is lung capacity a factor in vo2max, even with a very low lung capacity its no problem to reach 90ml/kg/min, its how much oxygen your heart can pump through your body and not how much you inhale, everyone can inhale 90ml/kg/min.

Difference between absolute and relative Vo2max:

When you get a Vo2max test done they'll record the volume of air you inhale per minute and from that compute the volume of O2 you inhale per minute. They'll also compute the volume of O2 you exhale per minute. The difference between volume of O2 inhaled vs exhaled per minute is your absolute Vo2max. The factors that determine this are the number of mitochrondia in your working muscles, number of capillaries in your working muscles, and the AVO2 difference (difference in O2 concentration between arteries and veins) in the working muscles. Training will increase the number of mitochondria, increase the capillary density in your working muscles (number of capillaries per unit volume) and both will determine the AVO2 difference. Now, let's say during the test you record a max Vo2 of 5L (5,000 ml). Let say you weigh 65kg (143lb), your relative Vo2max would be 5000/65 = 77ml/kg. Now, lets say at 143lbs you have 10% body fat, if you drop down to 5% body fat without losing any muscle you'll weigh 136lb or 62kg. Simply droping to 62kg will raise your Vo2max to 81ml/kg regardless of how you train. Now, if you are able to increase your absolute Vo2max by 500ml through training your new Vo2max would be 5500/62 = 89ml/kg. This is why elite runners have high vo2max's, they are very small (Kenyan, Ethiopian, etc) and are able to consume large amounts of O2. Now, lets turn it around and look at the average European/American who naturally has more muscle mass thus more weight but also more muscle able to consume more oxygen. So, it would be easy to invision a European/American runner with just as high an absolute Vo2max as an African but because of the higher weight will have a lower relative Vo2max. So, lets say the European/American tries to lose weight but what happens is because the European/American is genetically more muscled he'll lose a significant amount of muscle when trying to lose weight. So, what is the average European/American to do? Maximize the strength of the muscle he is stuck with. Maximize the strength of this muscle and you'll increase your effeciency thus making up for a lower Vo2max. Then again we could all be lucky like Alan Culpepper and be built like a skeleton. What does all this rambling tell you? Stop worrying about Vo2max. There are other variables to consider.

runcoachjason wrote:

Assuming the weight you lose is fat mass and not muscle mass, VO2max will increase with weight loss since, like others have said, it is measured in ml/kg/min. VO2max (or distance running performance) has nothing to do with the size of your lungs, however.

Jason

What about body builders?

Because of the large muscle mass of body builders their capillary density will be smaller and so their Vo2max will be smaller. So, their absolute Vo2max will suffer because of the added muscle space between capillaries and their relative Vo2max will suffer because of the added weight.

Alan

Since VO2max is determined by cardiac output and the difference in arterial and venous oxygen content, body builders will have low VO2max values since they are not cardiovascularly trained.

Jason

runcoachjason wrote:

Since VO2max is determined by cardiac output and the difference in arterial and venous oxygen content, body builders will have low VO2max values since they are not cardiovascularly trained.

Jason

That was my point. They can lose muscle and increase VO2max, which is contrary to what you stated previously.

What do you mean it will hurt you? You have me worried lol. Or anyone that sees this maybe could answer. I went from 142 pounds to 139 so I assume my VO2 max will go off but even if it doesn't (which I am more than fine with) what will it hurt?

Epic bump, bro.

Yes it will. It's a fraction, the denominator changes. But yes same lungs.

Two words - Nick Bare.