V02 Max

Fastguppy said:

I hear some things about v02 max that i don’t know are true?

Does VO2 max Increase if your a junior or a new rider that hasn't had much of a athletic past.
[font=Times New Roman][font=Verdana]Does VO2 max Decrease when you take time off the bike?[/font] [/font]

VO2 max is measured in mL/min/kg or just liters/minute. If you measure in mL/min/kg (ie, 40, 62, 72, 84, etc) it can vary widely as weight varies. If it is measured in liters/minute (ie 5, 6 L/min/absolute VO2max), it usually doesn't change very much.

In short: your VO2max will increase with activity and decrease with age. It would take a couple months for it to significantly decrease due to time off the bike. Also note that it is a poor indicator of your athletic potential until you actually hit cat1.

iliveonnitro said:

VO2 max is measured in mL/min/kg or just liters/minute. If you measure in mL/min/kg (ie, 40, 62, 72, 84, etc) it can vary widely as weight varies. If it is measured in liters/minute (ie 5, 6 L/min/absolute VO2max), it usually doesn't change very much.

In short: your VO2max will increase with activity and decrease with age. It would take a couple months for it to significantly decrease due to time off the bike. Also note that it is a poor indicator of your athletic potential until you actually hit cat1.

but could you really have a vo2 max of 75 when your a baby? I heard people say it grows 10 to 15 percent for junior or young u23 riders depending on how much you grown.

Fastguppy said:

but could you really have a vo2 max of 75 when your a baby?

That'd be a very well trained cycling baby. 😉

iliveonnitro said:

In short: your VO2max will increase with activity...

Fastguppy said:

Does VO2 max Increase if your a junior or a new rider that hasn't had much of a athletic past.

Quite possibly, since even adult athletes with many years of training under their belt experience 10-15% changes in/out of season (top form).

Fastguppy said:

Does VO2 max Decrease when you take time off the bike?

Yes, and it does so quite rapidly - see, e.g.:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=3944049&query_hl=2&itool=pubmed_docsum

Fastguppy said:

I heard people say it grows 10 to 15 percent for junior or young u23 riders depending on how much you grown.

FWIW, I had my VO2max measured for the first time when I was 20 y old, at which point I had already been training for/competing in endurance sports for about 7 y (cycling for 5 y). My VO2max at the time was 5.2 L/min, or 80 mL/min/kg (body mass = 65.1 kg). Like most males, I then experienced my last growth spurt, which resulted in my body mass increasing to 67-68 kg (with percentage body fat remaining in the single digits, i.e., I gained muscle, not fat). From that point in time until I was in my early 30's, my VO2max at peak fitness was 5.4-5.5 L/min, or ~5% higher. Relative to my body mass, however, my VO2max did not change (i.e., it was still ~80 mL/min/kg at peak fitness...as low as ~65 mL/min/kg when detrained).