Improve VO2Max

Blue = low intensity (65% MaxHR). Green = moderate intensity (75% MaxHR). Yellow = hard intensity (85% MaxHR).

I exercise in zones. 30 min per day. 2 days in yellow (resistance), 2 days in green (cardio), and 3 days in blue (yoga).

My VO2Max is 32. As a 61 year old male this is considered "moderate". I'd like to get to 41 which is "elite" for my age and sex.

Will the above exericise program get me there?
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Replies

  • dewd2
    dewd2 Posts: 2,449 Member
    How are you measuring? Have you done an actual test (in a lab)? Did you ever measure you actual max and min heart rates?
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    No I wouldn't think just 2 x 30 minutes of moderate intensity cardio a week will achieve your goal. That's a minimal amount and not of sufficient intensity for your goal. Where is the high intensity cardio in your plan?

    Do you think yoga is going to contribute to VO2 max improvement?
    If any contribution from resistance training at all I would imagine be completely trivial. That your HR rises during resistance training isn't a sign of aerobic effort.

    BTW -
    Your zones are likely inaccurate unless you have customised them based on actual testing. Probably not really important as you don't seem to be using different zones for cardio training anyway.
    Your VO2 max is likely inaccurate unless tested properly.

    e.g. my Garmin has a stab at estimating my VO2 max when I'm training on a stationary bike trainer with a power meter. After a moderate workout it drops to 40'ish, after a high intensity session it rises to 42'ish. Obviously my actual VO2 max isn't changing daily and the number itself may well be inaccurate.
  • OldAssDude
    OldAssDude Posts: 1,436 Member
    I think the rule of thumb is...

    minimum of 20 minutes in the cardio zone non stop, and a minimum of 3 times per week, will give you a minimum training effect. A training effect is what improves your fitness level.

    If you want better than minimum results, you can increase the time, intensity, and number of times per week.

    How are you measuring your VO2max?

    Do you know what your true max heart rate is?

    Do you know what your resting heart rate is?

    These are important questions, because they will give you a true starting point on which to gauge your progress and properly train.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    tsazani wrote: »
    Blue = low intensity (65% MaxHR). Green = moderate intensity (75% MaxHR). Yellow = hard intensity (85% MaxHR).

    I exercise in zones. 30 min per day. 2 days in yellow (resistance), 2 days in green (cardio), and 3 days in blue (yoga).

    My VO2Max is 32. As a 61 year old male this is considered "moderate". I'd like to get to 41 which is "elite" for my age and sex.

    Will the above exericise program get me there?

    Two questions. How are you measuring that and what's your reason for improvement?

    It's entirely possible to improve it, but it's not easy and it doesn't last long. That work is the kind of thing to do just before a goal race, as the improvements won't stick for much more than eight weeks or so, then it'll subside again.
  • peppermintcaroline
    peppermintcaroline Posts: 151 Member
    I'm female, 30, training for a marathon. I am between 39 and 42 VO2 as measured by a Garmin GPS running watch. I probably log 180-210 intensity minutes per week. I would guess you need to add some serious cardio, building up over time. I consider myself an athlete but am nowhere near "elite", as measured by VO2.
  • twatson4936
    twatson4936 Posts: 121 Member
    I can only tell what I am doing:
    Mondays 3 mile run easy,
    Tuesday 5x400 with 1 mile warm up and cool down, I run these at 8.5 mph on the treadmill,
    Wednesday upper body work
    Thursday 30 minute tempo run, warm up 10 minutes then build to 9 mph then 10 min cool down
    Friday upper body work
    Saturday 4 miles at 10k pace or faster
    Sunday 60 minutes real slow.

    I've been on this plan for 6 weeks and according to my Garmin 235 watch my V02 max is up to 45.

    The Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday runs where I push myself is where you will get the V02 gain.

    Hope this helps

    Tom
  • ajwcyclist2016
    ajwcyclist2016 Posts: 161 Member
    During the race season according to my garmin my vo2 will be around 65. But I can't keep it there currently I'm at 57 at 42 I do about 8 to 12 hours training a week
  • DX2JX2
    DX2JX2 Posts: 1,921 Member
    VO2Max is a measure of cardio capacity. Your yoga and resistance training won't move the needle too much. They're still good, just not for this purpose.

    In order to increase your VO2Max, you need to focus on your cardio. You shouldn't need to do a ton to improve from where you are today but you will probably need to drastically increase your volume once you get towards the top end of the range. Given your goal to get to 'elite' status, you might want to consider building up to a half marathon or marathon training plan which will involve running 4-5 times per week and upwards of 30+ miles per week. Start slow with a couch to 5K program and build from there.
  • Djproulx
    Djproulx Posts: 3,084 Member
    tsazani wrote: »
    Blue = low intensity (65% MaxHR). Green = moderate intensity (75% MaxHR). Yellow = hard intensity (85% MaxHR).

    I exercise in zones. 30 min per day. 2 days in yellow (resistance), 2 days in green (cardio), and 3 days in blue (yoga).

    My VO2Max is 32. As a 61 year old male this is considered "moderate". I'd like to get to 41 which is "elite" for my age and sex.

    Will the above exericise program get me there?

    OP, I am 61 years old as well. As others have pointed out, I"m not sure how you are measuring and what your goals are (beyond simply obtaining a higher VO2 number) but it will take a significant volume of cardio work over a long time period to reach the highest levels. For example, I looked at my VO2 numbers occasionally during last summer's training build for several long course triathlon events. During this time, I was training 7 days/week with a volume of 9-14 hrs of cardio work weekly. According to my Garmin, my VO2 was in the "superior" range then. (Garmin's term, not mine, lol!) As an additional bit of background, I have been training consistently for the last 7-8 years.

    With that said, I'm not very concerned about VO2 in and of itself, and so I don't focus my training on it.
  • DX2JX2
    DX2JX2 Posts: 1,921 Member
    tsazani wrote: »
    My recreational goal is to increase my VO2Max number without injuring myself. Most of the medical authorities advise 150 min per week of moderate (green zone) exercise or 75 min per week of intense exercise (yellow zone) zones.

    I do 210 min per week. 60 min are intense (yellow zone). So I'm meeting the Drs' goal.

    For guys my age we are told to lift weights at least 2X per week. Also we should do intense (yellow zone) two times per week. So my 2 day / week weight lifting checks both boxes.

    I'm VERY content with my diet and exercise program. It maintains my MAIN goals of normal weight (I'm up 10 lb because I recently "veganized" my LCHF diet) and normal blood sugars (up a bit for same reason). I'm a type 2 diabetic.

    I stick my fingers several times a day to measure my blood sugar levels. I use MFP to measure food and "Polar Beat" to measure exercise. It has a nifty VO2Max add-on to the app which gives me my 32 number. For MaxHR I use the old 220-age formula.

    I understand that ALL these measurements can be inaccurate and have their margins of error. But when used RELATIVELY and OFTEN they are very valuable.

    I'm going to do this for a month and see if there's any improvement. If not I'll probably add singles tennis. It's fun, not likely to injure, and very "HIIT-like" for me.

    So if you are going to ignore the answers, why ask the question?

    Resistance training and/or interval training won't really do much for VO2 max. You really need long sustained, easy effort cardio. The general recommendation to get 150/75 minutes of exercise per week is only to maintain a reasonable level of general health. It will not suffice to bring your cardio conditioning up to 'athletic' levels.

    For reference, my fitness tracker claims my VO2 max to be 'excellent' for my age group. On average, it takes about 4-5 hours of intense (yellow zone) exercise per week for me to maintain that level, more to improve.
  • OldAssDude
    OldAssDude Posts: 1,436 Member
    tsazani wrote: »
    My recreational goal is to increase my VO2Max number without injuring myself. Most of the medical authorities advise 150 min per week of moderate (green zone) exercise or 75 min per week of intense exercise (yellow zone) zones.

    I do 210 min per week. 60 min are intense (yellow zone). So I'm meeting the Drs' goal.

    For guys my age we are told to lift weights at least 2X per week. Also we should do intense (yellow zone) two times per week. So my 2 day / week weight lifting checks both boxes.

    I'm VERY content with my diet and exercise program. It maintains my MAIN goals of normal weight (I'm up 10 lb because I recently "veganized" my LCHF diet) and normal blood sugars (up a bit for same reason). I'm a type 2 diabetic.

    I stick my fingers several times a day to measure my blood sugar levels. I use MFP to measure food and "Polar Beat" to measure exercise. It has a nifty VO2Max add-on to the app which gives me my 32 number. For MaxHR I use the old 220-age formula.

    I understand that ALL these measurements can be inaccurate and have their margins of error. But when used RELATIVELY and OFTEN they are very valuable.

    I'm going to do this for a month and see if there's any improvement. If not I'll probably add singles tennis. It's fun, not likely to injure, and very "HIIT-like" for me.

    That 150 minutes per week is only minimum to maintain general health. If you want to really improve your fitness you should at least double (if not triple) that.

    And if you don't know your true max heart rate, all those zones that you are working in are inaccurate, because they are based off of a percentage of that max heart rate.

    According to the 220-age formula, my MHR should be 159 (I'm 61 years old). Sunday I did a 5k and hit 170 towards the end of that run. I stayed in the 160's for quite a while, and even when I hit 170, I felt like I could have pushed it just a little more. I have my MHR set at 174 which is probably pretty close to my true MHR. If I would have been using the 220-age formula all this time, I would have been under training, and wondering why I was not improving.

    If you want to do heart rate training, you need a good starting point, and knowing you true MHR is a very important one.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    tsazani wrote: »
    My recreational goal is to increase my VO2Max number.

    That's fine. But why? In the grand scheme of things VO2Max is pretty meaningless as a metric. If yoou focus on Resting Heart Rate reduction you'll see more value.

    fwiw if you're wanting to improve your VO2Max I'd start with perhaps 5 CV sessions per week, aiming for all of them to get to 60 minutes of steady state effort. Once you've done that start to add in tempo sessions, once per week, vice one of the steady state. Once you've done that for about six months then add in a High Intensity Session once per week. After six weeks of that you should have improved your VO2Max.

    You'll want to book in half a dozen lab sessions in there, to actually measure your MHR, LTHR, Aerobic threshold and VO2Max.
  • OldAssDude
    OldAssDude Posts: 1,436 Member
    Also keep in mind that about 80% of your cardio fitness is hereditary, so you can only develop about 20% of it. That is still a good improvement though.