The volume of oxygen used during fitness is often referred to as VO2 max. It is an indicator of your aerobic fitness. Higher numbers are better than lower numbers.
VO2 max, or maximal oxygen consumption, can change over time with regular physical activity and training. The rate at which it changes depends on various factors, including the individual’s starting fitness level, the intensity, and the duration of the training program.
You may ask yourself: How quickly does VO2 max typically change?
Well, depending on what your baseline is, it may take a while.
In general, significant improvements in VO2 max can occur within a few weeks to a few months of consistent training. Beginners or those starting from a relatively low fitness level may experience faster initial gains compared to more trained individuals. However, as fitness levels increase, the rate of improvement tends to slow down, and reaching higher levels of VO2 max may require longer and more focused training efforts.
It’s important to note that individual responses to training can vary widely, and factors such as age, genetics, diet, and overall health can influence the rate of change in VO2 max. Monitoring progress through regular fitness assessments and adjusting training programs accordingly can help individuals optimize their improvements in VO2 max over time.
Are Your Behaviors Paying Off?
When targeting health and fitness behaviors to improve, VO2 MAX is a nice way to evaluate whether time spent “doing cardio” is really paying off. Said differently, you are putting in the time and not getting any more fit.
VO2 MAX is precisely measured in the lab — by wearing masks and performing fitness tests on cardio equipment like a bike ergometer. However, our smartwatches (Apple Watch) do a decent job of measuring VO2 MAX without fancy lab equipment.
Case Study 1: Significant Changes Over Time
Beth took up running and hired me as her coach. She wanted to improve her overall fitness by running more miles and celebrate by running a 5K and 10K with her family members. Our coaching program involved progressively shaping more miles each to week a specifically monitoring her V02 MAX along the way.
Here mileage added up over time — and to our (anticipated) surprise — her VO2 Max shot through the roof!
Beth’s VO2 MAX lowest baseline point = 31.1
6 months later = +9 points
Take a look at the red lines which anchor her fitness by the iOS Health app relative to her age group!
I am excited to see how Beth’s fitness rose to 40 and maintained over the last couple of months. We saw this improvement even when we had rest weeks and gaps in training, or overall mileages.
In the chart below, we see recent volume decreases:
It will be interesting to see over the coming months how her running volume and VO2 MAX vary, or correlate over time.
Case Study 2: Targeted Cardio
Marcela is an avid skier and a regular on her Peloton. She reported that she wanted to “huff and puff” less, so we took a look at her Apple Watch data. Turns out we had been putting in the time, 30-minute morning rides, but we did not see any meaningful improvements in her cardio fitness.
For her age group, her VO2 MAX was below average, so we had to take a look at what to do next.
Given our data-based approach, we decided to implement “targeted cardio”. We added a rough goal of 30 minutes of cardio, 5 times per week, with the sole purpose of improving her VO2 Max. Thus, Marcela had to hit those spin classes harder than just using them as a 5:30am wake up strategy.
Check out her results below:
- On the left, you see the behaviors necessary for change — total exercise days and cardio minutes.
- On the right, you see the changes in VO2 MAX after only a few weeks of training.
Marcela’s VO2 MAX baseline = 29
After 1-month of training = 33 (+4 points)
If Marcela keeps up her training over the coming months, we should see another bump in fitness.
Behaviors and V02 MAX
For Beth and Marcela, each put in different effort (running vs. spinning) to achieve improvements in their cardio fitness. VO2 MAX is an incredible (lagging) fitness outcome to monitor over time. As their coach, it was remarkable to observe the improvements over the course of two different periods of time — 6 months and 1 month.
