VO2 max is a measure of the maximum volume of oxygen that an athlete can use. It is measured in millilitres per kilogramme of body weight per minute (ml/kg/min).
The overall message is pretty obvious: You should keep training like an endurance athlete in order to (at least partly) ward off age-related decline in VO2 max. In doing so, you’ll be keeping your whole system functioning optimally, not just your heart.
In a study, older subjects had a lower whole-body VO2 max than the younger ones by 38 percent. Interestingly, they were also 27 percent lower in single-leg VO2 max, suggesting that peripheral factors like blood circulation and diffusion had declined.
One trait that didn’t decline was the ability of their muscles to use oxygen. Using muscle biopsies, the researchers calculated the VO2 max of the mitochondria in the subjects’ leg muscles, and it was basically the same in both groups of subjects. This result, Gifford says, suggests that oxygen-processing capacity in the muscles “is primarily driven by physical activity, not age.”
That insight gels with the findings of a similar experiment that Gifford and his colleagues
published last year. In that study, they compared trained and untrained volunteers, and found that mitochondria was a limiting factor in the untrained group, but not in the trained group, whose mitochondria had lots of spare capacity even when the rest of the system was maxed out.
In theory, all this excess mitochondrial capacity seems like a waste—or even a violation of the principle of “symmorphosis,” which argues that “the size of the parts of the system must be matched to the overall functional demand.” In this view, there’s no single bottleneck that determines VO2 max. Instead, all the parts of the cascade—the heart, the arteries, the capillaries, the mitochondria—are just the right size for your needs, and together they dictate VO2 max.
So why do endurance athletes develop excess mitochondrial capacity? The authors argue that “it is doubtful that this reserve capacity serves no purpose.” They discuss a few theories, such as the idea that excess mitochondrial capacity might assist in fat burning, which would enhance actual endurance performance without changing VO2 max. There’s also some evidence that it may buffer oxidative stress and reduce cell damage.
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Published by connie dello buono
Connie Dello Buono is based in Sunnyvale California. Her first ebook is about women's health, Birthing Ways Healing Ways and her recent one is about cancer prevention, Curated Healing Ways. She had helped women have holistic childbirth as childbirth educator, founded Motherhealth, to serve seniors in the bay area with holistic caregivers and blogs at www.clubalthea.com with more than 10,000 health and finance related posts.
Connie trains her own caregivers, which are the favorites of most bay area seniors who are home bound and alone.
She is active in the rehab and nursing facilities, volunteering on music and movement for seniors.
She is a member of Lion's club and offered scholarships to students in the Philippines.
She is active at churchinsunnyvale.us and has Fridays Bible home study in Sunnyvale using the recovery version of the Bible , free at biblesforamerica.us
She loves dancing and teaching and her courses can be found at
https://teachclub.com/@thriveafter60
She is California Life Insurance licensed providing life insurance for older adults with health issues and helping women retire safely with income for life.
at menloassetca.com , she helps with 401k rollover.
3 Benefit plans
- Mortgage protection using term life insurance to pay for mortgage balance in event of death
- Final Expense plan using Single Issue Whole Life Insurance, with cash back, disability benefit and guaranteed in the presence of health issues
- Fixed Index Annuity retirement plan for safe, accessibility, less fees, less taxes, avoids probate as it goes directly to beneficiaries, rate of return with no downside market participation.
She brings compassion and understanding to the needs of her clients, bringing holistic approach in health and life insurance. Her goal is to free families from worries especially during covid with caregivers and life insurance in the presence of health issues, especially for women.
She can be reached at 408-854-1883 , motherhealth@gmail.com
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