What is VO2Max and how is it useful for triathletes?
There are several different physiological tests and metrics that are available to athletes depending on their goals, ambitions and lifestyle choices. It can be confusing and conflicting at times without knowing how they influence and interact with each other, contribute to the different types of training sessions and overall structured plans.
One of these is the VO2Max test. Let’s look at the VO2Max, what it is, how it could benefit you and what it means to you as an athlete. To give you the knowledge to enable you to challenge yourself, if you want to!
What is VO2Max?
VO2max is the maximum volume (V) of oxygen (O2) your body can process. A VO2max score is a little like horsepower in a car; it’s a measure of the capacity your body (engine) has to use oxygen when exercising. If you have a high VO2max, you have a big engine. VO2max has three primary components:
Lung capacity and heart volume: The more oxygen your lungs can intake and the more oxygenated blood your heart can pump, the higher your VO2 score.
Capillary delivery: The more oxygenated blood your circulatory system can transport to your muscles, the higher your VO2 score.
Muscle efficiency: The more your muscles can extract and use oxygen from your blood, the higher your VO2 score.
Knowing your current VO2max is key to understanding and improving your fitness. It serves as a baseline measurement of your fitness level today, and it can inform your training to improve your VO2 max readings in the future. You won’t automatically swim, bike or run swim faster if you increase your VO2 max. But knowing your score will make it easier to go faster and to sustain a given pace in any aerobic activity you do.
For those athletes in triathlon who enjoy the sport, taking part with their friends, the social aspect of the sport. Who don’t have the lifestyle to support the regular testing, regular training or the need to suffer through specific sessions - does VO2max really mean anything?
Therefore for those athletes who want to improve and get faster, knowing their VO2max is one of the vital metric’s to enable this. As you can imagine, there have been many different studies on this subject. Genetics and age will play a part as we are all different, and if you happen to have a lower VO2Max than the athlete stood next to you on the start line, do not despair.
Once you know your VO2Max number, you can use this plan and formulate the necessary sessions required to improve your fitness. Although, through regular testing, you will probably find little or no improvement in the maximal measurements, however, you will discover a decrease in the accumulation of blood lactate at sub-maximal (tempo) efforts. It suggests that you will become more efficient at higher intensities without increasing your endurance ceiling (VO2max) through consistent, focused training and racing schedule. It would’ve been great to dramatically increase our VO2max with a solid block of training, and the likelihood is that you won’t see a drastic change in VO2. However, you will be able to perform sub-maximal values (tempo efforts) for longer and perform at higher intensities without creating as much fatigue. In essence, you will become more efficient at performing work without dramatically increasing your maximal values; Lactate Threshold is highly trainable.
Interestingly, the outcome of Olympic endurance events is decided at intensities around 85% of the individuals VO2Max. Below this intensity, most events require athletes to be relatively fatigue resistant. Take, for example, the Olympic Triathlon, where the athletes perform at such a high level until they either crack due to fatigue or are physically unable to respond to a change of pace. Therefore, it is just as important to consider an athletes ability to perform at sub-maximal (or near maximum) values as it is to consider their maximum.
So, this all sounds great, I’ll just train at the level of around 85% of my VO2Max, and I’ll be more efficient and therefore faster - well, good luck with that! You will be heading down the road of fatigue, injury and disappointment. It takes time for the body to adapt to this type of training, building through a structured plan towards race day. High-intensity intervals will improve your aerobic capacity, especially when you do them at the power or pace associated with your VO2Max. At this intensity, your heart rate approaches maximum capacity, so these efforts are very hard.
Training at this level is hard, and you will need a strong mental preparation required to perform regularly. ‘It’s a negotiation between your brain and your body’ as who will determine the outcome. To succeed in endurance sports, you have to tolerate the pain caused by it. Exercised induced pain produces a burning sensation in the muscles when you work hard. Getting in tune with that and feeling comfortable with the uncomfortable will, in turn, help deliver the desired performance, learning to suffer.
As we age, our maximal ability to deliver and utilise oxygen for aerobic exercises decreases, but adequately designed training plans, including some higher intensity training, will reduce or delay the effect of this. If you rely on logging miles or hours at low to moderate intensity, then this capacity will decline.
VO2 max is just one of many variables when it comes to endurance success. It’s also important to remember that a high VO2Max does not always equate to success. A lot more goes into a result, such as work ethic, mental preparation, training load, sleep & recovery, nutrition, strength & conditioning, coaching, and the desire to compete.
While we may not all be blessed with a VO2Max of 85, we all have the potential to get stronger and more efficient. And most of all, enjoy getting in shape and being outside with others.
The takeaway: Efficiency is critical; focus on form, and you should be able to go faster, longer.
Qualified as a coach in 2010, in 2014 began coaching with a local Triathlon Club, in 2018 completed BTF level 3 coaching course. Now he is still enjoying the training but now concentrating on the coaching. Tim takes a lot of time over his professional development and then aims to share this knowledge, helping and supporting athletes achieve the best they can be.
Since joining Tri Training Harder Tim has worked hard in helping mentoring other coaches and run training camps abroad.
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