VO2 Test - Gimmick or not???

[Sancho]

I was happening by a personal training studio and there was a stack of VO2 Test Result flyers. It said it was a "cardio coach fitness assessment" and the sheet also had Korr medical technologies on it. The sheet was a sample of a test given to a 50 year old woman. It says " The CardioCoach system measures your heart rate and your oxygen consumption (VO2). The more oxygen you can use the greater your fitness level. It works by analyzing your VO2 and finding at what heart rate your body crosses its threshold of aerobic and anaerobic intensity. Once this aerobic threshold and anaerobic threshold are measured, your true Target Workout Zones can be found".

I know that there are various ways to estimate a calculation of my target workout zones. I've even taken my resting heart rate for a week (before getting out of bed) to calculate my different zones. But, it appeals to me to have this test done if it is more accurate than the resting heart rate method (or the 220 minus your age calculation).

Has anyone ever had this done? Was it worth paying for (I think it's $100). Is it a valid test, or just a personal trainer gimmick to get clients in????

[runnermom]

There was a thread awhile ago from a VFer that had some thing similar done. Her testing was done at New Leaf. I don't know how to post a link but if you search under "VO2 testing" it comes up. It was posted at in Feb. of '08. HTH.

[DebnPhx]

I don't know.... I had one taken prior to some outpatient surgery and I max'd out the equipment. They even re-calibrated it while I was sitting there cause they couldn't believe it. I was cycling a lot at the time and everyone agreed that I was incredibly aerobically fit.

In retrospect though, I think it may have been because I'm from Colorado and lived at 6500 feet for ten years before moving to Phoenix a few years ago. Phoenix is dramatically lower in elevation and there's more "air in the air" here. I think that skewed the results quite a bit!

[shirleyj62]

You might want to read this thread

I had the Metabolic Assessment Profile testing done and am very happy that I did.

[cheval]

I had a VO2 max test done in the summer. Loved it. As soon as I can run again and push to the max, I'll get another one to re-baseline.

The first one is generally more expensive because they gave me my mask after I was done. I'll keep it and use it next one I get, but the next one will be cheaper because I have my own mask.

April

[Lisa C]

I have had the testing done twice (see the thread Shirley linked to for my first test.) The first time was running on a treadmill and the 2nd time was on a spin bike. The results for both test were very helpful to me in figuring out what HR I should be striving for if I want to improve my fitness level. I know after the first test, my fitness improved quite a bit as I was doing real quality workouts. (I was injured after my 2nd test, so didn't get to use my results as much until recently.)

My results were very different biking vs running. My AT for biking was 154 and for running 176. Most people have a difference of 10bpm for biking vs running, but everyone is different. So, if you have the test done, remember that your results are activity dependent. Your HR can't get as high doing non-impact activities (which I do understand) but you can still get to the Anearobic Threshold (breathless) at a lower HR (I don't quite understand this, but just accept it.)

I don't think the tests are necessary, but if you want to try to make your workouts effective they can help. But there are ways to estimate your zones without the test. I personally do not think anything that uses your Age or Resting Heart rate will be that accurate though. I think the best way is to try to determine what HR you get breathless at. That isn't necessarily easy, because it is a subjective term and there are levels of breathlessness. You can try to do a field test to help determine this point. I posted about this a long time ago here:

http://forum.videofitness.com/showthread.php?t=57042

The other thing I should mention is not every test is going to be accurate. You should make sure the person who is testing you is qualified and properly trained. If they don't tell you to rest 24 hours before your test, avoid caffiene and not eat before it, I would worry that the results are not quite accurate.

[frogribbit]

The other thing I should mention is not every test is going to be accurate. You should make sure the person who is testing you is qualified and properly trained.

I totally agree with this! I had mine done at a community college fitness center that used the New Leaf equipment. During the initial test where they test your oxygen utilization at rest the girl had to keep re-calibrating the machine because it kept saying I was hyperventilating and couldn't read my oxygen input correctly. I basically had to do yoga breathing so the machine wouldn't say I was hyperventilating. Then when I did the treadmill test she kept having to re-calibrate the machine then. I felt like I was on the treadmill FOREVER and my legs were like jello. So I didn't feel like a got a true measurement at rest or at the run

[bzar]

a vo2max test is the real deal and not a gimmick. it's also good to perform the testing every so often as you progress/regress ( ) in your training & fitness journey.

i was on the verge of getting in touch with this guy at the local community college and he never called me back. i'm very interested in getting one done because it helps you to identify where your anaerobic threshold is for the sport being tested, and therefore helps you to train at the ideal level (whether it be weight loss, training to improve speed, training to not bonk out, etc.).

many olympic athletes use vo2max testing to guide their training regimen.

a very brainiac-ish book by Dr. Richard Brown (olympic trainer) called the 10 minute LEAP is an excellent book that describes how olympic athletes use their personal vo2max data to design their training rotations. i found it in our library - i think someone from VF had recommended it at some point. i thought the book was interesting because it discusses a lot of subjects such as designing a 90-day rotation, aerobic base building, and "hard-core" math equations in calculating your vo2max. one good thing i picked up from his book was how to tell from your RHR whether you've been overtraining.

it's one of the few books that doesn't use age-based methods for determining your training zones, including the karvonen method. it advocates actual field testing. IIRC there are various charts in the book that were developed using statistical regression to identify what your Vo2max estimate is (after you've done a few field tests on your own body).

i'm sure there's other books on the subject, but his is easy to read and motivating. there's 8 reviews on the amazon link that i provided.

[pumptmuscle]

As a runner, I've done a lot of reading about the importance of someone's VO2 max. Imo, it's overrated. As a general rule, people of equivalent fitness levels will have similar VO2 max's (at least in regards to running). So those who can do a 5 minute mile will have VO2 max's very close to each other, as will 8 minute milers, 11 minute milers, etc. I've never had one done nor considered it.