How is VO2 max correlated with athletic performance? What are the VO2 max ranges you’ve seen in professional athletes?

Question

Dr. Aaron Baggish, MD · Answer

Hey, Ed. Great question. Dr. Baggish talking a little bit about vo2 max and professional athletes. So indeed, I've had a chance to test lots and lots of elite competitors across different sporting disciplines. And probably first thing to address is the fact that not all sports are created equal with respect to the importance of vo2 max. Vo2 max as you know well is the body's ability to use oxygen. And for high-cardiac output sports, endurance sports, things like running, rowing, Nordic skiing, triathlon, high Vo2 max indeed does correlate pretty well with an athlete's ability to compete at a high level. So for instance, when we're talking about ranges typically at the elite level of endurance sports, we're expecting to see athletes with a peak Vo2 in the 70 to low 80 range. And then obviously Vo2 needs to be coupled with sport-specific efficiency and technique. But really to compete at a high level in endurance sports, the Vo2 is typically in the 70 to 80 mils, per kilogram, per minute range. That being said, there are sports where Vo2 is less important. Team-based sports, things like football or soccer in the US, hockey, lacrosse, there the typical elite athletes really rarely have Vo2 is in excess of 55 or 60. But what really is important for their sport is a combination of the Vo2 as well as sprint speed and endurance and obviously the technique required for their sport. So hope that's helpful. And love Vo2 max questions. So keep them coming.

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"How is VO2 max correlated with athletic performance? What are the VO2 max ranges you’ve seen in professional athletes?"