What's your VO2 max?

K50 said:

I am curious to know what people's VO2 max's are. Along with FTP, VO2 is also a vital bit of performance info.

Please indicate how the measurement was found (treadmill or on bike)

I'll start

Age: 21
VO2: 65.5mL/kg

I'll give you an even more important value (ok, maybe not more important, but more relavent to actual performance!)...

My economy is 73 watts/l (well, it was last year at peak fitness).

Scott

scotmart said:

I'll give you an even more important value (ok, maybe not more important, but more relavent to actual performance!)...

My economy is 73 watts/l (well, it was last year at peak fitness).

Scott

how did you find that?

In a period that I didn't sport at all, I did a test at a practicum at the university. My VO2max was 67ml/kg and I did 3.8 watt / kg at my Maximum Lactate Steady State (MLSS, probably your FTP?).

Other variables I don't know. Decided in the beginnen of August that I want to train for cycling and I want to buy a powertap sl 2.4 when it comes out.

Just done some tests at the lab....

did an incremental power loading test to 389w (5.6 w/kg), VO2 during test was 64 ml/kg/min. Max HR in test was 176 (my max is 190) , and after 3 minutes recovery it was 101.

The test was only a healthcheck, and yesterday I did 100km training and had 2 races on the weekend so I didn't go very hard at all. I have done over 400 on such a test pre season.

I am Cat 1 in Netherlands.

Maxed at 340/350 watts 4.57 litres 65.2 ml/kg

BullGod said:

Just done some tests at the lab....

did an incremental power loading test to 389w (5.6 w/kg), VO2 during test was 64 ml/kg/min. Max HR in test was 176 (my max is 190) , and after 3 minutes recovery it was 101.

The test was only a healthcheck, and yesterday I did 100km training and had 2 races on the weekend so I didn't go very hard at all. I have done over 400 on such a test pre season.

I am Cat 1 in Netherlands.

I envy you! I wish I could have numbers like that! My MAP is 375W and I'm 69kg. I bet if I retested in mid season this year I could have gotten to 400W, my goal for next year is anything over 400w. I'm only 69kg, so that helps, but it would be nice be above Cat 4!

scotmart said:

I'll give you an even more important value (ok, maybe not more important, but more relavent to actual performance!)...

My economy is 73 watts/l (well, it was last year at peak fitness).

Scott

VO2max would be a better predictor of performance ability than economy (efficiency). For example, the holder of the ultimate hour record (i.e., Chris Boardman) had only average efficiency, but a VO2max of ~90 mL/min/kg.

acoggan said:

VO2max would be a better predictor of performance ability than economy (efficiency). For example, the holder of the ultimate hour record (i.e., Chris Boardman) had only average efficiency, but a VO2max of ~90 mL/min/kg.

I guess I was being a bit deceptive. I think economy is more usefull, but that is given the fact that in testing economy, you also get information on VO2 (perhaps not VO2max, but at the very least high sub-maximal VO2).

So I'd agree that taken in isolation, VO2max is a better predictor of potential (and perhaps performance), but since obtaining economy (at a usefull intensity, assuming someone wouldn't bother to test, and quote economy at something like 40% vo2max =) gives you information on VO2 also, it's more relative to performance =).

Scott

acoggan said:

VO2max would be a better predictor of performance ability than economy (efficiency). For example, the holder of the ultimate hour record (i.e., Chris Boardman) had only average efficiency, but a VO2max of ~90 mL/min/kg.

Can VO2max be estimated using these ramp tests? For instance, if the poster above has a VO2 of 64mL/min/kg and completes the test (20w increase a minute?) at 5.6w/kg, does that mean finishing the same ramp test at 8w/kg would correlate to ~91mL/min/kg.?

Isn't that quite low- for example at 73 w/l and 70kg you will need a vo2-max of app 80ml to get to 400 watts MAP.

Bullgod's is 88 w/l at the moment. I wish i could get that sort of figure.

Mine is not much better at 76 w/l

scotmart said:

I'll give you an even more important value (ok, maybe not more important, but more relavent to actual performance!)...

My economy is 73 watts/l (well, it was last year at peak fitness).

Scott

Just divide MAP by Vo2 Max.

K50 said:

how did you find that?

K50 yours is 82.9 w/l

from 375 watts divided by .0655 litres divided by 69kg.

K50 said:

I envy you! I wish I could have numbers like that! My MAP is 375W and I'm 69kg. I bet if I retested in mid season this year I could have gotten to 400W, my goal for next year is anything over 400w. I'm only 69kg, so that helps, but it would be nice be above Cat 4!

11ring said:

Just divide MAP by Vo2 Max.

in that test I mention i don't take that result as serious. It was first thing in the morning without breakfast, the day after 120km ride, on an ergo with normal pedals and toe straps. the meaning of the test was a stress ECG, so all I wanted to do was get the revs up for a few minutes so the doc could tell if there was anything wrong with the heart.

through my job I have access to medical journals that study the cycling physiology - anyway - in a study by Padilla a sample of prefessional cyclists were found to have an average VO2 max of 78ml/kg/min - with the range from 69-84.

VO2 l/min was average of 5.6 (range 4.4 - 6.4)

average MAP was 431 (max was 525 - someone only got 349!)

HR max ranged from 178 - 204.

joemw said:

Can VO2max be estimated using these ramp tests? For instance, if the poster above has a VO2 of 64mL/min/kg and completes the test (20w increase a minute?) at 5.6w/kg, does that mean finishing the same ramp test at 8w/kg would correlate to ~91mL/min/kg.?

so if you were 70kg you'd have to reach 560w on the ramp test? Ouch. you'd be world class for sure.

BullGod said:

I am Cat 1 in Netherlands.

I did't know 64ml was enough to race Cat1. Great.

Note that your 64 is probably 10ml over *my* relative VO2Max :o

Cheers

joemw said:

Can VO2max be estimated using these ramp tests? For instance, if the poster above has a VO2 of 64mL/min/kg and completes the test (20w increase a minute?) at 5.6w/kg, does that mean finishing the same ramp test at 8w/kg would correlate to ~91mL/min/kg.?

The final power you achieve during an incremental exercise test depends upon four things:

1) your VO2max

2) your anaerobic capacity

3) your efficiency

4) the rate of increase in power

As a result of interindividaul differences in #'s 2 and 3, you can only estimate #1 (i.e., VO2max) to w/in 5-10% based on the power data alone, even when taking #4 into consideration.

11ring said:

K50 yours is 82.9 w/l

from 375 watts divided by .0655 litres divided by 69kg.

Sweet thanks for the info man

acoggan said:

The final power you achieve during an incremental exercise test depends upon four things:

1) your VO2max

2) your anaerobic capacity

3) your efficiency

4) the rate of increase in power

As a result of interindividaul differences in #'s 2 and 3, you can only estimate #1 (i.e., VO2max) to w/in 5-10% based on the power data alone, even when taking #4 into consideration.

Yeah, you should be using a ventilitory measure right? Because the rate at which the power ramps up changes after you reach your anaerobic threshold. But if he tests solely based on power can't it can skew the data?

In a ramp test to exhaustion, starting 95 W increasing 35 W every 3 minutes my VO2max recently was 72ml/kg/min but I don't believe it since I have only seen a number like this once before and usually get ~65ml/kg/min. I completed the 340 W stage and stopped shortly into the 375 W stage, and I'm not very fit at the moment! (23 yo, 61kg, 1st cat in the UK)