What is VO2 max, and why in the world would you want to know it?
If you exercise regularly, if you exercise extensively, if you are an athlete, or if you want to know that you're exercising within reasonable limits, you may indeed want to know your VO2 max.
When you exercise, your oxygen consumption increases. For each person, there is a limit to how much oxygen he or she can consume in a given period of time.
Your VO2 max (where V stands for Volume and O2 stands for oxygen) is your maximal ability to consume oxygen during exertion, measured in milliliters of oxygen per kg of body weight, per minute.
Oxygen is inhaled from the atmosphere by the lungs, where it diffuses into the blood stream, and then propelled by the heart throughout the body.
Some of the oxygen is then taken up by the cells and is used in aerobic metabolism for energy production and a large variety of metabolic processes.
Normally, the limitation to VO2 max is dictated by the ability of the heart to pump the blood, but other factors can also influence an individual's VO2 max.
This max can be impaired in cases of heart disease, especially in congestive heart failure. It can also be limited by a wide range of lung diseases such as asthma, COPD and interstitial lung disease, to name a few.
It can be further limited by genetic factors which determine how much oxygen can be taken up by exercising muscles.
For almost any individual in good health, VO2 max can be "trained." It can be increased to your individual ultimate maximum with a suitable exercise program.
The more fit you are, the higher is your VO2 max. It may take several months, sometimes up to 18 months of regular, graded exercise, to reach your ultimate VO2 max.
Your VO2 max is usually tested on a treadmill, using a "metabolic cart." It's a graded exercise test, similar to a cardiac stress test, but with the addition of a small mouth piece through which air composition is analyzed, and VO2 is computer-calculated during the exercise until you reach your max.
Once you reach VO2 max, your oxygen consumption plateaus, even if you try to increase your exertional effort. A traditional cardiac stress test is part of the test, which is frequently referred to as cardiopulmonary stress/endurance testing. Most people complete the exercise within 12-16 minutes.
Knowing you exercise VO2 and its relationship to your max allows the physician to assess your level of conditioning, and better prescribe an exercise routine in order to improve your performance.
So, if you want to have an objective assessment of your exercise capacity and want to improve your exercise performance, contact a physician knowledgeable in this area, usually a pulmonary or sports medicine specialist, and have your cardiopulmonary endurance test done.
The test is frequently done in a hospital's outpatient facility, but some specialists have their own labs.
Does this whet your appetite?
Dr. Igal Staw is a practicing physician with offices in Norwalk and Fairfield, CT. Over than 30 years in the practice of internal and pulmonary medicine, with a special passion for preventive medicine, early detection of potential health problems, and minimizing health risks.
With the growing number of uninsured patients, Dr. Staw has now taken significant steps to make health care much more affordable to the uninsured.
Dr. Staw is one of very few physicians who perform cardiopulmonary endurance testing in their own facility. For more information: http://www.drstaw.com
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