VO2 Max test results

(click image to enlarge, you won't see the data otherwise)

This morning I had my appointment with John MacLaren, President of Elite Fitness Training Systems located in downtown Los Angeles. I couldn't have been more nervous getting ready for the test but that all disapeared once I got on the spin bike and started learning about the process and what to expect. John was very good about egging you on to push your max even further to obtain the best results. Mike went with me and helped egg me further as well.

The test was only about 10 minutes long but it doesn't take much to break a severe sweat and start breathing very hard during these types of tests. After all, they are designed to max you out quickly.

The test was able to determine the maximum volume of oxygen my body can take in before I cross into oxygen debt. Since I'm going to be time trialling I wanted this analysis done so I knew exactly where to start working to push my Anaerobic Threshold further out. Simply, anaerobic threshold is the limit at which your body is not receiving enough oxygen to the blood system to continue the current rate of work being done. Now, you can function in the AT zone for a little while (everyone's time there varies) but it's my focus because time trialling is a short violent affair. As a time traillist, I'll be operating within this AT zone because it means you're putting out 100% effort. The data received today told me my AT is 160 bpm (heart rate). My typical average heart rate while riding is around 157-160. If I train to push that limit further out, I should be able to in time push that limit out to say....170 bpm. I don't know if that's realistic but I'm just using that higher heart rate as an example. Effectively, it will allow me to race from 161-169 bpm easier.

One note, the handwriting on the lower portion of the form under Cardio Strength was written by John. Those were my peak values. The computer will not accept those values unless they have been achieved for 10-15 seconds...it simply won't believe they are true and will discard them. However, they are true because I did hit them so he gave them to me as he does all his customers. Silly computers.

Last note...

According to my test, which he believes my VO2 Max would be about 5-6 higher now that I've done the test and will be more comfortable next time was 59.8. If I were to do this again next weekend they should read around 64-65 ml/kg/min. John said those were pretty good numbers. Genetics plays a huge part in being much higher than that. Elite cyclists will probably be in the 90s somewhere. For my age group, I'm well over the lower cutoff for superior fitness level scoring.

I will probably do this again in 6 months and see how much things may have changed.

It was nice John spent 2 hours talking with me about a multitude of things regarding training, the test, and other related subjects.

Now dinner calls...pasta before I ride hard tomorrow. Everything else on the form should be pretty self-explanatory.