VO2 Max: Not the Gold Standard? Flashcards
what tests are done for aerobic and anaerobic pathways
he tests they wanted to use were a VO2 max test (aerobic capacity measured while working to exhaustion on a treadmill or stationary bike) and a Wingate test (a bike test designed to assess both anaerobic pathways).
VO2 max test
The VO2 max test on a treadmill or stationary bike measuring gas exchange is considered the “gold standard” of laboratory tests to assess VO2 max (the conventional measure of aerobic fitness), which is why the wrestling coaches wanted to use it for their athlete.
VO2 max test
The VO2 max test on a treadmill or stationary bike measuring gas exchange is considered the “gold standard” of laboratory tests to assess VO2 max (the conventional measure of aerobic fitness), which is why the wrestling coaches wanted to use it for their athlete.
Wrestling is an exceptionally demanding spor
ng multiple lines of action (pushes, pulls, and static grips with both the arms and legs) and demanding both cardiovascular endurance and muscular stamina, so why not asses all these abilities in one test?
How test a wrestler in all
You could do three two-minute rounds of one minute of thrusters and then one minute of pull-ups (like a Fran), or maybe three sets of two minutes of clean and jerks (like a Grace). This would tax the cardiovascular system as well as muscular strength, power, and endurance, and the athlete’s scores for each would measure changes in his fitness
Alternative for testing
You could also develop a continuous sixminute test similar to Fight Gone Bad that would cover many of these aspects and be indicative of the wrestler’s VO2 max. To break the testing into a VO2 max test (which would quantify how well he pumps blood to his leg muscles and the stamina of those muscles) and a Wingate test (which is a 30-second maximal-output bike test to assess phosphagen and glycolytic energy pathways) doesn’t adequately test the demands of the sport.
VO2max
max is a measure of your body’s ability to take up and utilize oxygen. VO2 max is measured by determining the amount of oxygen in the inspired air and the expired air. The difference is the amount of oxygen used by the body. This is usually done by analyzing inspired and expired gases while having the subject run on a treadmill with ever-increasing speed and/or incline until exhaustion
At sea level, the most important physiological factors that determine VO2 max in a given person are:
the ability of the heart to pump blood
the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood (hemoglobin content)
the ability of the working muscles to accept a large blood supply (amount of capillarization within a muscle)
the ability of the muscle cells to extract oxygen from the capillary blood and use it to produce energy (number of mitochondria and aerobic enzymes)
Delivery of oxygen to the blood via the lungs is important, but at sea level it is
not a limiting factor
A runner may have a large stroke volume (amount of blood pumped by the heart per beat, #1 above) but if you put him on a bike,
his VO2 max measurement will come out lower than when he is tested on a treadmill., imilarly, a cyclist will not do as well on a treadmill.
Why runner his VO2 max measurement will come out lower than when he is tested on a treadmill., imilarly, a cyclist will not do as well on a treadmill.
This is because of the difference between systemic adaptations to the training impulse and peripheral adaptations.
Oxygen extraction between runner and cyclist
Both runner and cyclist have large stroke volumes but the runner’s quads cannot accept as large a volume of blood and extract oxygen as efficiently as the cyclist’s quads. Likewise, the hamstrings and especially the ankle extensors (gastrocnemius and soleus) of the runner are able to receive larger amounts of blood and extract oxygen more effectively than those of the cyclist. S
what’s the daily variation in VO2 max
It has been reported that there can be up to an 8% variation in the VO2 max due to this natural daily variation (we are not robots responding to stimuli exactly the same way every time)
ideal, as the difference is likely to be affected by daily variation and other factors such as VO@ max
hydration, nutrition, and environmental temperature, rather than changed VO2 max per se.
Specific numeric measure
simple tests such as a 5k run that you can easily repeat six or seven or more times a year. If your time improves consistently, you know your running VO2 max has improved. Over the year and multiple tests, variation due to factors other than improved running VO2 will cancel out. This is why it is so easy to test yourself while following CrossFit: the benchmark workouts become the standardized tests. You might not hit a PR every time, but you will see which direction you are heading in and how steep the trend curve is.
