Low VO2 Max ALWAYS

VO2 max still stuck on 36 even though my acute load ”green zone” has increased by double, my speed has increased, etc. 

At age 46, you can go thirty minutes with a heart rate of 185 and feel fine the whole time? At age 42, I had a lab-tested VO2 max of 63. My lab-tested max HR was 186, and following my VO2max test I felt like crap. So unless you're an Olympic level track athlete, no way.

Here are screenshots of my last two hard workouts. One is Threshold and the other Sprints. The Threshold had my heart rate in the mid 180s for two 15 minute intervals. The Sprints mid 180s and 190s for two 10 minute intervals. Tested my max recently at 205. Heart doctor tested 205ish 2 or 3 years ago. I just did one of these workouts today. I left the workout and immediately jumped on a zoom meeting at work, felt just fine. In the past I would go an entire hour at 185 and feel fine. Garmin has me dialing it in some. So yes, definitely, "way". Let me know if you want to see my birth certificate too.

photos.app.goo.gl/GQGWhVE4Br7EECN49

With LTHR at around 185 per your post, you would be at 90% of your 205 HR Max which is pretty good. So either we have to take your VO2 Max at face value, or there is some issue with the data being fed to the watch.

Just to make sure, your trainer has a power meter and is feeding power data to the watch, correct?

You are seeing VO2 Max update points on the VO2 Max graph on the watch, but the value of each new point stays at 36, correct?

The Watch is controlling the Wahoo Kickr bike which has power meters. The power that the Watch sends to the bike is reflected in the resulting workout.

The VO2 max value never changes. Correct. It’s stayed around 36 for a couple months.

It seems to me that VO2 max is most heavily weighted on watts and I’m just weak. I say this because everything else has improved and the VO2 max needle has not moved.

I thought when I adjusted my max HR to 205, I would see some change in VO2 max because my HR would essentially be slower. 

Etupes25 said:

Got it. But is the watch showing a power meter connected when you use your Wahoo Kickr?

Some Kickr models do not broadcast power readings (like the Wahoo Kickr Rollr) and some do (like the Wahoo Kick V6).

You want to make sure it is connected as a power meter on the Garmin watch

It's the flagship Kickr Bike, like 4,000.00 USD. What I do is go to the suggested workout. There, the bike connects. I start the workout on the watch. The watch controls the bike, holds the power at a certain wattage per the workout that Garmin suggested.  

For example here's the most recent sprint workout: https://photos.app.goo.gl/BkBKYT66LUjLqUga8

It doesn't matter what my cadence is, the bike will hold the wattage at precisely what the watch suggested workout is sending to the bike. The power meters are extremely accurate and the bike is lightning fast at changing the wattage during interval changes.

I do not want to select PWR for the workout because that ONLY measures power. Selecting the trainer option controls the bike PLUS measures the power. For example, here is the proper sensor for controllable plus power meter: photos.app.goo.gl/FhLmNt8nZ3GxcrAN9

I might want to use PWR if I am riding Zwift and dual recoding to the watch. That way Zwift would control the bike and the Garmin workout would record the power only. Alternatively, if "I" wanted to control the wattage with my shifters or cadence, I would select PWR, but that's silly when the watch can control the bike for me.

If you're max HR is really 205, you are a biological anomaly. Most people under age 40 can reliably use the 220 minus age algorithm. Over 40, a more complicated formula that moderates the decline should be used. 

But I don't trust Garmin's max HR calculation. As I said, at age 42 mine was lab-tested at 186. I still have the printout that shows it peaking there as my ability to work (during the VO2max test) rapidly declined at that point. That was 24 years ago. And Garmin still registers my heart rate while cycling well into the 180s and occasionally above 190 (see Runalyze page view below, which links to my watch.). Realistically, it's probably around 170.

Again, unless your heart is abnormal (not good or bad), there is no way you could pound out 185 for an hour after age 40, or even 30. Back when I was racing 10Ks, with a VO2max in the mid-60s, my HR would typically tap out around 165 as that was my threshold. 

So no need to be defensive. Just don't put too much faith in Garmin's max HR numbers.

I wasn't really being defensive. It's just a fact, for me. My max is 205. Not Garmin's max number. This is from a heart doctor that did a stress test, backed by similar readings on the Garmin watch recently when I performed FTP tests. I'm manually entering the max into Garmin because it's so strange. I fully understand that the norm is 220 minus age,.This wildly high HR has been a huge pain in the rear because I've been to 3 different heart doctors trying to explain why. Apparently I'm just odd.

I'm more irritated than anything, having to repeat and assert myself on here.

Droogles said:

For example here's the most recent sprint workout: https://photos.app.goo.gl/BkBKYT66LUjLqUga8

Yes, it looks like everything is set up OK and the watch does get the power from the trainer as it should. I was trying to find a reason why the VO2 Max would be off,  I was pursuing the case where the power would not be recorded properly by the watch, so your VO2 Max would not update.

I am not familiar with Wahoo trainers, so maybe other users can contribute.

Something that you might want to try, just to see if that makes any difference, is to have a hard workout with the Wahoo as a PWR sensor only, vs a trainer. I am not very hopeful, but maybe it is worth a try. Maybe the VO2 Max will update.

Otherwise, I am afraid it is what it is. You have solid a good FTP to VO2 Max ratio. At the same time, from the screenshot you are showing, your sprints are in the 310W range, and your FTP is in the 220W range.

According to Trainerroad users, that would put you in the beginner male category. So, it is roughly aligned with your VO2 Max performance.

www.trainerroad.com/.../

I hate to be the bearer of disappointing news, but we have a couple of indicators of your level of fitness (FTP and VO2 Max) that seem to be converging.

NB: don't kill the messenger.