How to check your vo2 max on apple watch

Well, that description IS somewhat accurate. Having a solid VO2 Max may make you feel like you are in fact, superhuman. But what exactly is the VO2 Max metric and is it actually important to your overall health?

One of the best ways to get a grasp on your fitness is to figure out what your VO2 is. Generally speaking, the higher the VO2 figure, the better, although criteria like age, occupation, and gender also play a big role in determining VO2. In most cases, VO2 figures range from 15 to Athletes tend to have some of the highest VO2 measurements, because their bodies are conditioned to make efficient use of whatever oxygen they take in. In a professional medical setting, a VO2 max trial may go something like this: Your physician instructs you to hop onto a stationary bike or step onto a treadmill.

How to check your vo2 max on apple watch

VO2 Max is a commonly used measure of cardiovascular fitness, and the higher your VO2 Max score, the better your overall health and longevity. For those of us using Apple Watch for cardio fitness , your iPhone and Apple Watch is able to calculate and track your VO2 Max score, giving you an idea of your cardiorespiratory fitness and endurance. Why should you care about VO2 Max? If you are interested in optimizing your health, then your VO2 Max score should be tracked and improved, because it can have substantial impacts on your overall health and mortality risk. As health influencer and MD Peter Attia puts it:. Your iPhone will calculate your VO2 Max score after you have used Apple Watch to track several brisk walks, hikes, or runs outdoors. Thus if you do not see a score, you need to engage in some cardiovascular exercise that is tracked on your Apple Watch. You will also need to setup Cardio Fitness levels on your Apple Watch and iPhone before this data will calculate. There you go, now you can see your VO2 Max score and trends. Your VO2 Max score can change from day to day, depending on your exercise, exertion levels, and other fitness data. Note: If you have not setup Cardio Fitness on iPhone and Apple Watch yet, when you open the Health app to access the VO2 Max information, you will instead be presented with a series of steps to setup your cardio tracking. After you have setup Cardio Fitness, you will need to engage in several outdoor walks, runs, or hikes, to calculate a cardio fitness and VO2 Max score. This is a really great feature for tracking your fitness levels. If you want to improve your VO2 Max score, the easiest way to do so is to engage in more cardiovascular exercise at higher zone levels, which is where viewing your target heart rate zones can be useful, since exercising in higher target heart rate zones typically will improve your VO2 Max.

This is a really great feature for tracking your fitness levels. However, it will also take a measurement every time you complete an outdoor walk, run, or hike that lasts longer than 20 minutes using the Workout app. VO2 max relates to maximal exertion.

Your Apple Watch can estimate your cardio fitness level and send you a notification when it's low. Cardio fitness is a measurement of your VO 2 max, which is the maximum amount of oxygen your body can consume during exercise. Your cardio fitness level is a strong indicator of your overall physical health and a predictor of your long-term health. Your Apple Watch gives you a cardio fitness estimate by measuring how hard your heart is working during an Outdoor Walk, Outdoor Run or Hiking workout in the Workout app. If your cardio fitness levels are low for your age and sex, you'll receive a notification. If your cardio fitness levels continue to remain low, you'll receive additional notifications. Most people can improve their VO 2 max by increasing the intensity and frequency of their cardiovascular exercise.

But what is it, exactly, and is it really as important as we think it is? We spoke with Alexandra Coates, a runner, professional triathlete and exercise physiology Ph. Coates explains that your VO2 max is the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use during dynamic exercise. How big and strong your heart is , how much blood and red blood cells you have and how good your blood flow is to the working muscles, as well as how much oxygen your mitochondria the powerhouses of your cells consume, are all reflected in your VO2 max. To properly measure your VO2 max, Coates says you would need to go to an exercise physiology lab that has a metabolic cart. A metabolic cart measures the volume of oxygen that your body uses, and the volume of carbon dioxide that you produce during exercise through the gas concentrations and rates of your inspired and expired breaths. In the lab, you would take a VO2 max test , which is always going to be some version of an incremental or ramp exercise test, where you are either running, cycling, or even rowing while wearing a mask that is connected to the metabolic cart. There are equations and calculators that you can use to determine your VO2 max, simply by inputting recent race or workout results. VO2max is directly proportional to how fast you will end up running at the end of the ramp test, and how fast you can run a 5K, 10K, half-marathon or marathon. The other important piece of the puzzle is how close to your VO2 max you can work without hitting your anaerobic threshold, which is the highest exercise intensity you can sustain for a prolonged period of time without lactate building up in your blood.

How to check your vo2 max on apple watch

If you use an Apple Watch, regardless of your workout regimen, the Cardio Fitness score is there to measure your fitness level. Cardio Fitness Score is a more user-friendly name for VO2 Max, a universal and established metric of fitness based on how much oxygen your body can transfer to your blood. The more you can transfer, the fitter you are. To measure VO2 Max properly, you need to run on a treadmill, building up to total exhaustion, and wear a mask to measure every drop of oxygen entering your body. Then, you need to have your finger pricked and a blood test taken every few minutes.

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Most Popular. Inevitably, your oxygen intake is going to increase as the exercise gets tougher. Your Apple Watch will passively track your VO2 max over time. I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in December, In a professional medical setting, a VO2 max trial may go something like this: Your physician instructs you to hop onto a stationary bike or step onto a treadmill. Tap a cardio fitness level to compare your results to other levels based on your age and sex. The idea is that over six weeks, you'll go from sitting on your couch to being able to walk or run five kilometers just over three miles. The VO2 max in the Health app won't change quicklybut it will change. And I load the leg press machine with 12, 45 lb plates for my top set lbs. With delayed onset muscle soreness, I can feel the effects of a workout. Well, that description IS somewhat accurate. Your VO2 Max score can change from day to day, depending on your exercise, exertion levels, and other fitness data. You can see how you stack up against other people your age, and you can get notifications if your cardiovascular fitness is low.

The Apple Watch has lagged behind sports watches like Garmins in how it displayed your cardio fitness. With the watchOS 7. The Watch has actually been able to do this for a while, but it's been a hidden option tucked away in the Health and Fitness apps.

The Watch has actually been able to do this for a while, but it's been a hidden option tucked away in the Health and Fitness apps. How to use the safety tools on your Apple Watch: Crash Detection, emergency siren and more. When I went to Phase IV back in November, Aisha explained that what she works with clients to achieve is helping them calibrate their bodies to become more efficient at burning fat, and increasing their aerobic capacity. Follow OSXDaily. However, your heart rate and the speed at which you walk or run correlate pretty well with your VO2 max. If your cardio fitness levels are low for your age and sex, you'll receive a notification. In week four, just go for easy 30 minute walks and allow your body and system to recover from the abuse of the first three weeks. Make sure that your iPhone is updated to at least iOS Tap Heart, then tap Cardio Fitness. Inevitably, your oxygen intake is going to increase as the exercise gets tougher. If you want to make your heart stronger and your body able to utilize oxygen more efficiently, which is a strong indicator of heart health and protection against premature death due to heart disease, and you want to burn more fat while working out overall, do this:.