V02 max test

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Devol
Devol Posts: 40 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi Guys

As a serving firefighter my service has just introduced a predicted V02 max fitness test for all serving firefighters. test involves a 14 minute treadmill test with an increased incline every 2 minutes.

It was only ever used for new entrants. It should have been used since day one as far as im concerned.

Anyway to remain operationally fit we must achieve a figure of 34, ideally the medical team are looking for 42.

I managed 38.4, 2 months & 20lbs ago

Yesterday i got 42 woohoo

my question is, has it improved because i have lost weight or because i am fitter or is it a combination of both?

Off to nightshift people, so if you have any questions for me regarding the test ect, i will answer then tomorrow.

:-)

Replies

  • dakoerber
    dakoerber Posts: 308 Member
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    Hi! I just got done with a Personal Trainer certification course and we learned about this so I am so excited to anwer!

    V02 max measures cardio vascular endurance so it is from the conditioning you are doing. I am sure losing the weight is helping your body function better but really it is from whatever exercise you are doing. You are becoming more efficient at moving oxygen in and out of your body!!

    Great job!!!
  • catcrazy
    catcrazy Posts: 1,740 Member
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    I would say a combination of the 2. You are not lugging extra weight around which can only be good news for your lungs!

    If you have a HRM there are a couple of sites that you can use to determine your true calorie burn, HRM and VO2 max together give the most accurate burn.

    Well done on on getting to 42...how often will you be getting it retested, will be interesting to see if you can get it higher?
  • TrainingWithTonya
    TrainingWithTonya Posts: 1,741 Member
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    Congratulations! Improving VO2 max is a great achievement! And just because I have the tables to compare it to, I looked it up and that puts you at the 70th percentile for your age and gender. That means that 70% of the population would score lower then you. That's up from the 40th percentile from your first test. That is a major improvement!!!! You just surpassed 30% of the population.

    Now, what has caused that improvement? The weight has something to do with it because you have less to carry on that treadmill so it does make the stages of the test easier to get through. But that is a minuscule amount of the improvement. The majority of it though, is the increased capacity of the lungs and the improved usage of the individual muscle cells so they are able to use the oxygen that is coming in the body. VO2 is the volume of oxygen consumed, so it is a combination of how much you are able to breathe in and how much your muscles are able to use. Since you are using more muscle fibers you are getting more use of the oxygen you breathe in just from that. Add in that you are improving the ability of those muscle fibers to work so they can pull more and more oxygen from your blood and you get more usage from that too. Eventually, though, people in general have a genetic max that they can improve, so don't get discouraged if you don't see big jumps on your tests or you stay at one level after a while of training. That's normal. The key when you get there is to realize that maintaining that max is just as important as achieving it in the first place. :smile:

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