Raising VO2 Max For Increased Performance & Health
In this article we're going to cover something that is key to increasing the overall endurance, performance, and recovery ability of an athlete.
But while it's very important for an athlete, or anyone into fitness of any sort — it’s also important for anyone who is just wishing to raise their overall health and energy levels.
This is because, no matter where we're starting from, very high or very low, if we address it, we can significantly raise not just our energy production and performance abilities, but our overall health, across the spectrum, possibly even removing health troubles we thought were: "just they way it is."
It's called VO2 Max. V is for Volume, O2 is for Oxygen, and Max is for Maximum.
VO2 Max literally means the maximum amount, or volume, of oxygen that your cells are currently able to utilize during intense exercise, before you burn out.
Note the word currently.
Because when we raise the maximum amount of oxygen each cell can take in and use, so that they're able to and do use more, we end up raising energy production, performance, endurance, our ability to recover, and possibly even reverse conditions we thought would never go away.
And it's not hard to do.
So let’s dive in.
VO2 MAX, AEROBIC EXERCISE & MITOCHONDRIA
Obviously this has a lot to do with Aerobic exercise.
The word “Aerobic” means having to do with oxygen.
And, regarding exercise specifically, Aerobic means something that improves, or intends to improve, the ability of the body to absorb and transport oxygen to the cells.
So, if your arteries were narrowed, then the blood cells carrying oxygen, which are already slightly wider than many of your tiny arteries, would have a harder time getting through. So your heart would have to raise blood pressure to push them through.
If we got some of the fats narrowing your arteries out of there, you would have faster, easier blood flow so your cells could get oxygen faster.
That’s “improving the ability of the body to absorb and transport oxygen to the cells.”
Or, say you take up running, swimming or cycling, as well as a high fat, high protein diet, and your heart gets stronger, and your blood vessels and cells become more able to transport and take in oxygen, we would call this “aerobic” exercise because it’s improving your ability to get oxygen into your cells.
This also connects with our mitochondria, the tiny organelles inside our cells which are what require that oxygen. They take in oxygen and nutrients and make something called ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate), which is the energy our cells use to operate, which powers our body.
If you’ve ever felt out of breath, then you already know how mitochondria work.
It’s not you out of breath, it’s the mitochondria in your cells. They aren’t getting as much oxygen as they need to keep making energy to fuel your current exercise.
Increasing protein and fats, as well as increasing aerobic exercise, can help to increase the number of mitochondria we have.
And the more mitochondria we have per cell, the more oxygen that can be taken in at one time, the more energy they can create, and the more intense you can go in your exercise.
But this point where you get out of breath and can’t continue… that’s also your VO2 Max: the maximum volume of oxygen you can get to the mitochondria of your cells before the intensity of the exercise is too much and they can’t get in oxygen fast enough and you’re… out of breath and can’t go on.
So let’s see how to improve this.