Anyone that did any kind of structured sport in their life will probably remember the dreaded 'beep test'. This was running from point to point before the next beep sounded and you immediately had to turn and run back before the next, and so on.
Each level reduced the time between beeps. The longer you ran for, the shorter the time you had to complete the distance. Essentially speeding up over time. A diabolical fitness test for sure.
A LONG time ago I remember hitting the famed 'Level 14'. And then promptly vomited. A day when I was under 90kg, 18 years old and in the shape of my life. That was around a VO2 Max of 60%+ back then (it declines with age, btw)... now it's almost half that.
What is VO2 Max and why does it matter?
VO2 Max is basically how good your body is at using oxygen at high intensity. It is directly associated with the number of mitochondria in your muscles cells that are responsible for converting fuel to energy in your body.
In short, the fitter you are, the better you can use body fat, glycogen, etc for fuel in your sport, the better your engine is.
It matters because energy conversion is a big deal in what I'm doing. This is why I'm fat adapting as that is helping build the mitochondria making me bonk-proof.
A new discovery
A while back i invested in a high end sports watch - Suunto 9 and looking through the data it tracks when running. One of the things I noticed was that it measures VO2 Max via my workouts, Heart Rate, speed/cadence etc. Going through the workouts I noticed that the VO2 Max number has been rising each week. A good thing.
What makes this great for me is that I can actually see the positive impact of my training and eating and know that if my VO2 Max is going up, then so are the numbers of mitochondria i.e. improving fat burning and aerobic efficiency. The biggest things I need to improve in order to achieve what I'm setting out to.
I'm in the 46-55 year old male category, btw.
Taking my first treadmill run of the year and comparing it to yesterday's I'm pleased to see what is a 15% improvement in 2 months! (Ignore the mileage and pace as the treadmill distance calculated on the watch is rubbish!)
This is Wk1 vs. Wk8
The main takeaway is that under exactly the same conditions my VO2 Max has improved drastically and is putting me in the 'above average' category for my age. That means I'm fitter, and definitely more aerobically efficient, which has been one of the primary goals for me using Maffetone style training!
Everything heading in the right direction...
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