Measuring your VO2max

Workout routines

Most aerobic workout routines are based on the relative stress they impose on your body. For example, the general rule for establishing a suitable training intensity is to measure your VO2max. To improve your aerobic fitness, you then follow a training program that corresponds to a percentage of this maximum.

However, most people don’t have access to the equipment needed to measure their VO2max. Instead, they use their heart rate to establish a suitable training intensity.

This is because during some forms of exercise, there’s a link between oxygen consumption and heart rate. During aerobic exercise, such as running or walking for example, oxygen consumption and heart rate tend to rise together. Yet the relationship doesn’t hold true for all forms of activity.

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Do workouts give you the needed fitness?

Workout routines that don t deliver what you expect may be a waste of energy.

Most workout routines designed to improve your aerobic fitness involve exercising for 20 minutes or longer at a percentage of your maximum heart rate known as your training zone.

Quite apart from the fact that the formula traditionally used to calculate your maximum heart rate is extremely inaccurate, some workout routines can elevate your heart rate without having any effect on your cardiovascular fitness. In other words, it’s possible to raise your heart rate, keep it there for 20 minutes or more several times each week, and it won’t improve your fitness in the slightest.

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