Hi People!

I'm looking for various ways that I can calculate my vo2 max in the safety of my own home. I do have a very big yard, but I cann't measure how far I run. I was thinking of doing the beep test and set out 20 metres, and see the score I get and put it into a calculator that I found online as a rough estimiation.

I know people can get accurate ones done the labratories and stuff like that, but I just want a rough estimation at how fit I am and what level i'm at.

You should be able to buy the bleep test on CD and just run along to the beeps with your 20m shuttle runs measured out. Will be a good test. I got mine very cheap on ebay once from a guy who was just copying the bleep test on to blank CD's and selling them on.

I know they do step up tests where afterward they test how fast it takes for your heartbeat to get back to normal. Not sure how you would compare it though as I don't know what standards are considered good/ bad, unless you just compare it against yourself to see progress.

Is this just out of curiosity? 'Cause even if you were to get seriously into HIIT training, your max output is simply, your max output, and as long as you're reaching it the number on the monitor is irrlevant. Couch to 5K is to my understanding, all about working up to distance goals, not about sprinting, yes?

I don't use my monitor everytime I workout, but if I'm doing a HITT session, or even doing less pronounced interval work,, (not quite max sprinting, but close for longer stints), I like to have it on for the sake of layman-sciencey-goodness.

FWIW, I've had my heart rate up to 210bpm while running and though that was my max that day, it might not be my max the next time; as that was in the French winter on a very windy day, which was surely a big factor in the cooling process while I was running. If I were to push it like that on a 30 degree high-humidity summer day, I'd surely crap out way before I saw that number on my monitor.

As far as how fit you are goes, and measuring that in the stability of indoor temps, try doing "burpees", (as seen as on that vid example by that beau male specimen!), to failure and measure both the time it took you to reach your max., as well as the number on the monitor when you percieved max. Do that again after a good month of serious running, (and calisthenics, as YOU PROMISED! ), and that'll give you something to log and mentally fondle.

I did all this stuff in High School - The graphs of Vo2 Max and all, but I dont remember much about it. I just heard that the higher your vo2 max is the better / fitter you are. I just wanted to measure mine to see how fit I actually am now. Minu, I dont know what you mean by the HIIT / C25k thing, because i'm not trying to get a high vo2 max to do those things, I just want to know if I am fit or not so fit. You know what I mean?

I will look into those burpee things and see how I go.

Dean, I downloaded the mp3 for the beep test. I was just gonna put it into my mp3 player and run with it. I dont know how well I will go with it though on me, lol. But i'll try that as well.

I guess what I'm trying to say, without sounding like an inbred farm kid, is you are as fit as you ARE. You must work, and work hard regularly to improve and while numbers are fun, there are no numbers without the work.

Done correctly, each time you train you improve and your fitness is most measurable by you as you see and feel those improvements in strength and stamina.

No matter what the charts say there is only your very best to compare to 'cause at the end of the day, it is YOU you are accountable to, (what you eat, drink, do, DON'T do, think...).

If you are still wanting to know your max accurately, then you covered that in your opening post here and all you need to do is shell out the cash at the right place and have it done by the pro's.

One thing you CAN do at home to get an idea of where you're at CV-health-wise is to test your resting heart rate, which I think I've mentioned before but to recap, testing that goes like this:

Go to bed with the HR monitor next to the bed. Upon waking, before you even get up to pee, strap it on and get a reading. Do this 3 days in-a-row and average them out. Repeat each month and note the likely improvements.

VO2 max is pretty pointless for the everyday person. It really doesn't measure how fit you are, only potential fitness, or fitness relative to your maximum potential. A high VO2 max reading is like having a big engine in a car. Lots of potential, but cheap fuel, bald tires, old oil, bad timing, and bad spark plugs severly hamper performance.

Same way with VO2 max, you may get a high reading of 70 (i.e. you have a big engine) but let's say your body can only sustain that for 5 minutes because you don't train often or at a high intensity. Someone with a lower reading of 65 may be able to sustain that level for 20 minutes and thus kick your butt in a race.

VO2 max readings are for elite athletes who need to know whether their body is finely tuned to its maximum potential.

Oh well, I don't know why we got taught it when it's pretty useless. Minu, you're right though too. (As always )

I'll do the heart rate monitor idea.


I did take before pictures, i've been wanting to take after pictures but i'm afraid of not seeing anything. And if I don't i'll feel depressed after doing alot of work. Because I know i've come a long way. I suppose I can wait for that

Take pics every month regardless. Either the lack of change will push you harder, or the change will.

I did that from the start of my body-morphing project back in '06 and I'm still doing it, as now that I'm into increasing my strength and stamina, there's always wee improvements to behold, not to mention the actual increases in power. Now I'M the one the stubborn corked-wine bottle gets handed to, heheheh...

Ok well i'll do so. I still hope to find a little bit of change. But hey, not much work = not much change.. right? I wish I had done more, more often.

What's done is done. Start doing more, more often, now .