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VO2 max articles
12 articles on VO2 max, newest first. Every one is sourced and links to the calculator it applies to.
VDOT Explained: How Jack Daniels Turns One Race Into Every Training Pace
What VDOT is, how Jack Daniels' Running Formula turns one race into easy, marathon, threshold, interval and repetition paces, and where it misleads.
How Garmin Calculates Your Max Heart Rate (HRmax)
Garmin estimates HRmax from your age (208 − 0.7 × age), then raises it from new peaks. How auto-detection works, what it drives, and how to set it.
How WHOOP Calculates Your VO2 Max
WHOOP updates VO2 max weekly from GPS running data plus respiration rate, recovery and time in heart rate zones. A wider net than any watch casts.
How Suunto Calculates Your VO2 Max (Fitness Level)
Suunto labels VO2 max as Fitness Level and gets it from Firstbeat, the same engine behind Garmin's, using running and walking data on specific models.
How Polar Calculates Your VO2 Max (OwnIndex and Running Index)
Polar has two systems: a five-minute resting test that needs no exercise, and Running Index from every run. One of them is much more trustworthy.
How Garmin Calculates Your VO2 Max (and How Accurate It Is)
Garmin's Firstbeat algorithm reads pace against heart rate in short credible segments. Within 3-5 ml/kg/min of a lab with a chest strap, worse without.
How Fitbit Calculates Your VO2 Max (Cardio Fitness Score)
If Fitbit shows you a range like 42-46 instead of a number, it has estimated your VO2 max from resting heart rate alone. Here is how to get a real one.
How COROS Calculates Your VO2 Max (EvoLab)
COROS estimates VO2 max from a rolling six weeks of outdoor runs, then feeds it into Running Fitness, Marathon Level and the race predictor.
How Apple Watch Calculates VO2 Max (Cardio Fitness)
Apple's Cardio Fitness is the one wearable VO2 max estimate with published independent validation. It underestimates, by about 6.9 ml/kg/min on average.
The 30/15 Interval: The Cult Session That Actually Delivers
Rønnestad's 30/15 intervals: 3 sets of 13 x 30 seconds on, 15 off. What the studies found, how to run one, and why the last set hits max heart rate.
Beyond the Numbers: Special Training Intensities, Part 2 (Threshold to Sprint)
Threshold, sub-threshold, Critical Power, VO2max and the anaerobic top end: the named training intensities at the hard end and what each one trains.
How Remco Evenepoel Trains (the Ex-Footballer With a Legendary Engine)
Evenepoel came to cycling from football and won Olympic time-trial gold. His power-based method, why his famous VO2max is disputed, how to estimate yours.