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VO2 Max and how to improve it

6972738
over 4 years ago

Hi, I am male 54 years old and although not an athlete I feel I do pretty good for my age. 
I try to cycle 10 miles at least 4 times a week and go on long dog walks etc. I am quite active in my job as well. 
My concern is whenever I check my VO2 max it always shows 35 and poor with a “fitness” age of 60 !!

My question is, what do I need to do to improve this ? Is it HR based ? If so, my avg HR whilst cycling is approx 110. Is that bad ?

Any help or advice appreciated. 

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    My suggestion is to try interval training with shorter bursts of high intensity. One popular setup is 4x4 minutes, with 2-3 minutes of active resting between. At the end of the four minutes, you should feel like you could do max one more minute. And at the end of the fourth set, you should feel like you could do maximum one more set. If you do this 2 times per week, your VO2Max will usually improve significantly over time.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to ovekvam

    Thanks for reply and will certainly give that a try.  
    I guess my question was also why would my Garmin think I was 60 lol ?

    i feel I am in pretty decent shape and just wondered if the watch looked for

    key markers or if I’m doing something wrong ?

    is it based on HR or something else ?

    thanks :-)

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to 6972738

    It is heartrate and performance based, and unless you have a power meter on your bicycle, it will only base it on your running sessions. A VO2Max of 35 is probably typical for a 60 year old man. 

    I am 48 years old, and my watch indicated a VO2Max of 55, and a fitness age of 20.

  • 0 over 4 years ago

    I had a similar concern, and the only way around it was getting onto a bike with a power meter (wattbike) and using a chest heart rate monitor. This is for cycling V02 max only. 

    For running you'll have to do at least a 15min run for that V02 max number to increase. 

    Garmin indicates on some watches that V02 max is available for walking but I've seen no evidence of that on the VA4. 

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to Martin

    As long as you select a running activity, you can do at least partly walking, and still get a VO2Max update.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to ovekvam

    Appreciate it :-)

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to ovekvam

    Just to clarify, are you saying I should run to improve VO2 max or that the cycling and walking isn’t really measured by Garmin ?

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to 6972738

    Cycling is only measured for VO2Max if you have a power sensor on the bicycle. Running is only measured if the activity is of the type "Run", and lasts for at least 15 minutes. For best measurement, use a heart rate chest strap, and run at different intensities. 

    For improving VO2Max, any sport can be used. Biking, running, rowing, swimming, or anyting else that gets your heart rate high. Preferably interval training.

  • 0 over 4 years ago in reply to Martin

    fwiw, in my first few days of wearing my VA4s – prior to going on any runs – I was able to record a VO2 max based on a couple of sessions of very fast walking.