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oxologic 10-09-03 07:25 AM

VO2 min??
 
We've all heard many things about VO2 max and how having a higher VO2 max leads to better endurance performance. Is there anything such as VO2 min, which I would refer to as the oxygen consumption at rest? Since having a VO2 min that is low would mean that your body does not require as much oxygen due to a better economy of all your organs and muscles, does it?? It is pretty much the same analogy as having the same VO2 max but with a better economy, you can go the distance in a shorter time. It would too mean that during maximal endurance exercise, your other systems do not require as much oxygen consumption and the VO2 reserve could be channeled to your muscles. That could mean a better endurance performance. Views please?

Guest 10-09-03 08:23 AM

I think VO2 min is death.

;)

Never heard of it. The only thing I do know is that the measurement of how much oxygen you can take in is VO2. When they refer to VO2 max, it's the maximum amount of oxygen consumed. If you're looking for a name for the minimum amount consumed, I guess it WOULD be technically called your VO2 min, but it is not often referred to as that. If tested, they would just give that measurement as your VO2 in ml/kg/min.

Actually, during exercise, we hope that you have a high VO2 max, not a lower one- so, if you had less oxygen intake, that would mean that your body would have a POOR economy, not a better one. That would mean that you wouldn't be able to "go the distance" in a shorter time- it would take a longer time for you to go the distance. Oxygen is used to provide ATP, which gives energy to the muscles to move, and without enough oxygen, ATP is not made in enough abundance, which means you don't have the energy to do everyday tasks.

You always want to have a high percentange of VO2 max, no matter what you're doing.

Koffee

Pat 10-09-03 08:33 AM

Well resting metabolic rate would be lowest per lb body weight among individuals with extremely high fat percentages. Fat tissue has only about 10% of the oxygen demands of muscle tissue. So I guess the world champion on this sort of thing on a weight basis would be a very very obese individual. But I don't think that is what you are looking for.

Now individual resting metabolic rates can differ some. But I don't think it has much to do with atheletic performance. I have read that resting metabolic rates go up if you exercise regularly because your body has to repair tissues and be ready to go. But I have never heard anyone measuring this from an idea of atheletic performance.

Come to think of it, that makes sense doesn't it? I suppose it might be of interest if they ever made being a couch potato into a competititive sport. Given the levels of obesity I have read about and seen, maybe that is just around the corner.

Guest 10-09-03 09:15 AM

Pat, I think he's talking about oxygen intake for the purpose of aerobic activity, as opposed to metabolic rate, which measures a person's oxygen uptake per unit of time by measuring the difference in the amount of oxygen in inspired and expired air. Metabolic rate (to me) seems to refer to the heat production by the catabolism of food to given products, which is the same inside and outside the body. I think it's something like 4.8 kcal of heat is liberated per liter of oxygen used. By knowing metabolic rate, and by knowing how much oxygen is used, heat production is determined. Once you determine heat production, you can find out how much calories are being consumed by the body to produce energy to do work.

There are a number of factors that affect metabolic rate- the most important being the thyroid hormones from the thyroid gland. With an increase of thyroid hormone (TH), there will be an increase in oxygen consumption and heat production of the body tissues (except the brain), and it is unclear (as of yet, but I'm sure there are studies going on all the time for this) on how TH does this.

Other things that can affect metabolic rate- epinephrine (from stress) increases metabolic rate; muscles, which increases metabolic rate, as they require huge amounts of oxygen during strenuous exercise, and can be the factor that increases metabolic rate the most due to the fact that it can increase metabolic rate 10- 15 times higher than normal; and food increases metabolic rate (only the first few hours as the body digests the food).

Metabolic rate (to me) referred more to calorie expenditure, while VO2 max is oxygen consumption during exercise and other activities. Good point, though. Yet another important factor to consider when exercising and training in general.

Koffee

demoncyclist 10-09-03 11:16 AM

When you are at rest, you generally don't inhale deeply, so it would be difficult to obtain accurate results to measure a theoretic VO2min. You would like inhale as shallowly as possible, just out of human competitiveness, get dizzy and pass out. I would work on getting that resting heart rate down, and not worry about your O2 consumption.

DEMON

oxygen_77 10-09-03 11:37 AM

tsk, tsk, tsk.... all this talking about me behind my back... you should be ashamed... haha.. just kidding. :D

I fail to see how the VO2 max measurements could really have any relevance though because people living at higher altitudes have lower oxygen requirements and when doing something athletic at lower altitudes seem to get a boost from the extra oxygen. I want to know why the human body doesn't make use of all the nitrogen in the atmosphere (isn't it like 70% of the air we breathe?).

cbhungry 10-09-03 11:53 AM


Originally Posted by oxygen_77
tsk, tsk, tsk.... all this talking about me behind my back... you should be ashamed... haha.. just kidding. :D

. I want to know why the human body doesn't make use of all the nitrogen in the atmosphere (isn't it like 70% of the air we breathe?).

Two words...oxidative phosphorylation which is the net summary of a few thousand pages of chemical reactions in our body.

oxygen_77 10-09-03 11:56 AM


Originally Posted by cbhungry
Two words...oxidative phosphorylation which is the net summary of a few thousand pages of chemical reactions in our body.

haha... big words there eh? What I meant to ask was why didn't the human body evolve to make use of the Nitrogen rich air we breath... Instead it evolved to use mostly oxygen... weird...

cbhungry 10-09-03 12:07 PM


Originally Posted by oxygen_77
haha... big words there eh? What I meant to ask was why didn't the human body evolve to make use of the Nitrogen rich air we breath... Instead it evolved to use mostly oxygen... weird...

your right, since it is such a waste of the greater quantity of nitorgen in the atmosphere. It has to do with the fact that the oxygen atom is more electronegative (It attracts electrons more ) than the nitrogen atom. (Ie: it has a higher effective nuclear charge than nitrogen...) the upshot of which it allows for our chemical reactions to occur more efficiently at body temperature.


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