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TRAIN WITH VO2 MAX
Bicycling South Africa
|January/February 2023
VO2 max stands for a measurement of the maximum (max) volume (V) of oxygen (O2) your body can take in and use during intense aerobic exercise.
It’s measured in millilitres of oxygen consumed in a minute per kilogram of body weight (mL/kg/min).
You need oxygen to exercise, and the more efficiently you can consume and use it – the higher your VO2 max – the easier exercise will feel at specific intensities.
“It might help to think of your VO2 max like a car’s engine, but for your body,” says exercise physiologist Todd Buckingham, PhD. “The bigger your engine, the greater your capacity for being a good endurance athlete.”
This story is from the January/February 2023 edition of Bicycling South Africa.
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