VO2 max
[1][2] The name is derived from three abbreviations: "V̇" for volume (the dot over the V indicates "per unit of time" in Newton's notation), "O2" for oxygen, and "max" for maximum and usually normalized per kilogram of body mass.
Maximal oxygen consumption reflects cardiorespiratory fitness and endurance capacity in exercise performance.
[2] Accurately measuring V̇O2 max involves a physical effort sufficient in duration and intensity to fully tax the aerobic energy system.
[5][6][7] The classic V̇O2 max, in the sense of Hill and Lupton (1923), is reached when oxygen consumption remains at a steady state ("plateau") despite an increase in workload.
The researchers cautioned that the conversion rule was based on measurements on well-trained men aged 21 to 51 only, and may not be reliable when applied to other sub-groups.
They also advised that the formula is most reliable when based on actual measurement of maximum heart rate, rather than an age-related estimate.
According to Voutilainen et al. 2020, the constant factor should be 14 in around 40-year-old normal weight never-smoking men with no cardiovascular diseases, bronchial asthma, or cancer.
Consequently, V̇O2 max of 60-year-old obese current smoker men should be estimated by multiplying the HRmax to HRrest ratio by 10.
[13] Estimation of V̇O2 max from a timed one-mile track walk (as fast as possible) in decimal minutes (t, e.g.: 20:35 would be specified as 20.58), sex, age in years, body weight in pounds (BW, lbs), and 60-second heart rate in beats-per-minute (HR, bpm) at the end of the mile.
[18] In sports where endurance is an important component in performance, such as road cycling, rowing, cross-country skiing, swimming, and long-distance running, world-class athletes typically have high V̇O2 max values.
[23] Alaskan huskies running in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race had V̇O2 max values as high as 240 mL/(kg·min).
[28] General characteristics that affect V̇O2 max include age, sex, fitness and training, and altitude.
V̇O2 max can be a poor predictor of performance in runners due to variations in running economy and fatigue resistance during prolonged exercise.
EPO has been banned since the 1990s as an illicit performance-enhancing substance, but by 1998 it had become widespread in cycling and led to the Festina affair[30][31] as well as being mentioned ubiquitously in the USADA 2012 report on the U.S.
[32] Greg LeMond has suggested establishing a baseline for riders' V̇O2 max (and other attributes) to detect abnormal performance increases.
[33] V̇O2 max/peak is widely used as an indicator of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) in select groups of athletes or, rarely, in people under assessment for disease risk.
[34] A 2023 meta-analysis of observational cohort studies showed an inverse and independent association between V̇O2 max and all-cause mortality risk.
[35] As of 2023, V̇O2 max is rarely employed in routine clinical practice to assess cardiorespiratory fitness or mortality due to its considerable demand for resources and costs.
[38][27] Hill and German physician Otto Meyerhof shared the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their independent work related to muscle energy metabolism.
