VO2 Max Not Good

Bundyman
Bundyman Posts: 41 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm just now learning about VO2 Max and I just did the fitness test using my Polar M400 and the Heartrate Monitor.

I'm a 47 year old male that has been obese my entire adult life although I have lost 165 pounds in the last couple of years.

My VO2 Max result was 19 or Very Low which isn't good. I'm wondering if it's possible to improve that result much or should I be planning my funeral? ;-)

Replies

  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    Yes, you can improve your VO2Max. Take up running and/or cycling. The way and method of losing 165lbs may have also been a factor.
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
    So what song would you like played at your funeral procession?

    On a serious note I wouldn't stress about it too much. VO2 Max by itself isn't a meaningful measure of your overall fitness or current capability and can certainly be improved (although if I remember correctly the upper ceiling and train ability is limited by your genetics.) In addition Polar's estimates can be a little off so take the number as a guideline rather than absolutely correct.

    As stated above take up some form of cardiovascular exercise. Do it regularly and keep pushing yourself in a sensible fashion. Once you have established a decent base think about incorporating some interval training which targets your VO2 Max specifically. You may surprise yourself...
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    May I suggest Monty Python's "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" for your funeral? :)

    Cardio will improve your health and fitness - start slow and build up duration and intensity over time. Crucially find something you enjoy rather than something you have to endure. Build cardio activity into your day to day activities too. Stairs are not just a fire escape for example!

    If you are currently very unfit with a high resting HR then you should see rapid improvement with your score. I believe the Polar is just doing a basic calculation based on your minimum HR during the "fitness test" function. Make sure you do it under the same conditions to see a trend.

    I use it as a general guide to my current fitness and it does seem to correlate surprisingly well.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    Speaking of Polar - it does calculate V02Max based on maxHR. If you entered it wrong your evaluation will be terrible. Still even if corrected to above 20 - you still need to take something up if you don't want to remain very unfit.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    ^^^^ Thanks for that @EvgeniZyntx .
    I have calibrated my HRM with my tested max HR so that makes sense.

    For non-Polar users who know their true maximum HR and resting HR and may be interested in estimating their VO2 max......

    VO2 max = 15 x (HRmax ÷ HRrest)
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    ^^^^ Thanks for that @EvgeniZyntx .
    I have calibrated my HRM with my tested max HR so that makes sense.

    For non-Polar users who know their true maximum HR and resting HR and may be interested in estimating their VO2 max......

    VO2 max = 15 x (HRmax ÷ HRrest)

    So for the OP to get 19 his HRmax is only 27% higher than resting heart rate ? Perhaps such a low level is off the regression line.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    ^^^^
    I would suspect that something may also be off in the OP's data inputs - 19 is remarkably low.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    yarwell wrote: »
    sijomial wrote: »
    ^^^^ Thanks for that @EvgeniZyntx .
    I have calibrated my HRM with my tested max HR so that makes sense.

    For non-Polar users who know their true maximum HR and resting HR and may be interested in estimating their VO2 max......

    VO2 max = 15 x (HRmax ÷ HRrest)

    So for the OP to get 19 his HRmax is only 27% higher than resting heart rate ? Perhaps such a low level is off the regression line.

    That equation is just a good simple estimator (By the way, it should read 15.3 ...). There are literally dozens of other estimator formulas just like for HRmax, usually requiring some effort test.

    OP didn't use the linear estimator and assuming it was correctly set up error rates are going to be likely less than 10%. But let's say the OP is in the mid 20s and he can choose some heavy metal dirge music much later. ;) Still should focus *some* effort on cardiovascular fitness.

    Join us on the trails.
  • cw106
    cw106 Posts: 952 Member
    EvgeniZyntx wrote: »
    Yes, you can improve your VO2Max. Take up running and/or cycling. The way and method of losing 165lbs may have also been a factor.

    also swimming and rowing .

    age 50 @270llbs vo2 max of 6.smoker.
    age 54 @170ish vo2 mox of 42.non-smoker.

    i get measured at nuffield hospital each1/4.
    definitely improvable.

  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    I have little confidence in the accuracy of the Polar Fit Test. To answer the original question: yes it is possible to increase VO2max. Your VO2max has been increasing as you have lost weight. I am assuming you did some type of exercise while losing weight--if it was done at any type of training effort level, you increased your VO2max with that as well.

    Overall, unless you are having it measured in a clinical lab and dealing with serious heart failure, I don't know how significant VO2 max is. Just based on the exercises you are doing, you should already have a rough idea of whether your aerobic fitness level is high, medium, or low. If you're a numbers geek and really, really, really want to know then I would do the full Monty and find a university lab or somewhere where they will actually hook you up to a metabolic cart and make you go gack.
  • KathyApplebaum
    KathyApplebaum Posts: 188 Member
    In January of 2015, Garmin gave me a VO2max of 26. I've improved it since then to 38. Definitely doable. (fwiw, I'm 52)

    And yes, I know that the only accurate one is done in the lab. But I do believe there's value in looking at the change in the numbers that Garmin gives. Certainly, I can now run much farther and faster without getting out of breath, and that improvement seems to have tracked pretty well with my increases in the Garmin VO2max. I'm good with that.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    cw106 wrote: »
    EvgeniZyntx wrote: »
    Yes, you can improve your VO2Max. Take up running and/or cycling. The way and method of losing 165lbs may have also been a factor.

    also swimming and rowing .

    age 50 @270llbs vo2 max of 6.smoker.
    age 54 @170ish vo2 mox of 42.non-smoker.

    i get measured at nuffield hospital each1/4.
    definitely improvable.

    Damn. Impressive change.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    Bundyman wrote: »
    My VO2 Max result was 19 or Very Low which isn't good. I'm wondering if it's possible to improve that result much or should I be planning my funeral? ;-)

    Well for starters, a low VO2max doesn't indicate the onset of death. It just means a low aerobic capacity. It's something that can be improved through training. And weight loss, although how you lose the weight can make a difference in either direction. More to the point, while it's a neat thing to know, it isn't a useful metric for exercise purposes. What you should do with this information is go out and do a lot of cardio that you enjoy.
    sijomial wrote: »
    For non-Polar users who know their true maximum HR and resting HR and may be interested in estimating their VO2 max......

    VO2 max = 15 x (HRmax ÷ HRrest)

    The thing is, my running VO2max is 6 points higher than my cycling VO2max, as measured by my Garmin, using pace + HR for the runs and power + HR for the bike. You wouldn't be able to predict that just from my heart rates. But from the conversations I've had about it (at first I had a hard time believing this, because we're talking about the same body and cardiovascular system) this is fairly common.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    ^^^^ Sorry "Quote" doesn't work on my elderly work browser! ^^^^
    @NorthCascades
    Yep - agreed, I'm a cyclist so my cycling VO2 max score is higher than my rowing score and my running VO2 max score would be far lower as I'm an awful distance runner (distance means anything over 100m for me).
    To me it's an interesting personal metric and charts my progress but no more significant than many other metrics.

    I actually found the process of being tested to exhaustion in a sports science lab fascinating (but wouldn't recommend it to people who are not fit or in good CV health). Knowing my true max HR was the most useful practical takeaway - gives me confidence I'm not actually going to die on those long hills despite hearing angels.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    NorthCascades wrote: »
    Bundyman wrote: »
    My VO2 Max result was 19 or Very Low which isn't good. I'm wondering if it's possible to improve that result much or should I be planning my funeral? ;-)

    Well for starters, a low VO2max doesn't indicate the onset of death. It just means a low aerobic capacity. It's something that can be improved through training. And weight loss, although how you lose the weight can make a difference in either direction. More to the point, while it's a neat thing to know, it isn't a useful metric for exercise purposes. What you should do with this information is go out and do a lot of cardio that you enjoy.
    sijomial wrote: »
    For non-Polar users who know their true maximum HR and resting HR and may be interested in estimating their VO2 max......

    VO2 max = 15 x (HRmax ÷ HRrest)

    The thing is, my running VO2max is 6 points higher than my cycling VO2max, as measured by my Garmin, using pace + HR for the runs and power + HR for the bike. You wouldn't be able to predict that just from my heart rates. But from the conversations I've had about it (at first I had a hard time believing this, because we're talking about the same body and cardiovascular system) this is fairly common.

    Yes, VO2max is different for different sports. Cycling tends to be a little lower than running or X-country skiing; swimming is lower than cycling. It's not a question of less fitness per se--it has more to do with the body's physiological response with different movements and postures.

    I wish the VO2max formula cited was applicable in my case, as my number would be AWEsome. But it's probably off by 20 points :-(
  • Bundyman
    Bundyman Posts: 41 Member
    I appreciate all of the insightful responses from everyone. I'm learning lots. My Max HR was set at 173 by Polar. I don't know if adjusting that would make any difference.

    I wish I'd taken it when I weighed 450 pounds to see if it improved at all but I'll keep checking it from time to time to see if it gets higher.

    I'm not a runner by any means but I will do intervals now where I'll walk for 3 minutes and then run for 1 minute on the treadmill for 30 minutes. I couldn't run at all when I was at a heavier weight because it was not only hard on my joints but the fat would bounce and make it difficult. So I have made big improvements. Still work to do.

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