Most people have never heard of VO2 max. A few know it has something to do with oxygen consumption. But how is it measured? And what does a high or low figure mean?
‘New VO2 max: 58.7ml/kg/min,” Bryan Johnson, the 45-year-old tech entrepreneur spending a reported $2m (£1.6m) a year on de-ageing himself, recently announced on Twitter. “Ranking me in the top 1.5% of 18-year-olds.” As a marker of the body’s ability to use oxygen, that’s pretty good, but maybe more impressive than the number is the fact that he put himself through the test in the first place. Any runner who has done it knows that gradually cranking up the pace on a treadmill while wearing a rubber mask isn’t exactly a great afternoon.
But does that stat actually mean anything? Is Johnson’s number good? And does anyone outside the winter biathlon circuit need to know their VO2 max?
