I teach HK 368L which is the lab for the undergraduate introduction to exercise physiology. I also take HK 568 which is the graduate level, advanced exercise physiology and there is also a lab component. No one in my lab group wants to be the subject except me and that's fine by me because I love being the subject.
This week I got to do a cycle ergometer VO2max test. If you don't know, during a VO2max test, the resistance for a bike or the speed and grade for a treadmill increase at specified intervals and you exercise until exhaustion. This was my fourth test - why wouldn't you want to exercise till you can't go anymore?
Anyway, I my VO2max was 42.6ml/kg/min. VO2max is the maximal amount of oxygen consumed during high intensity, dynamic, large muscle group exercise. It's a measure of how well the lungs can take up oxygen, how well the heart can pump that oxygenated blood, and how well the muscles can use that oxygen to convert chemical energy to mechanical energy.
Depending on where you look, my VO2max puts me somewhere between average and superior for my age and gender. And I did it all with a broken pinky toe : )
This week I got to do a cycle ergometer VO2max test. If you don't know, during a VO2max test, the resistance for a bike or the speed and grade for a treadmill increase at specified intervals and you exercise until exhaustion. This was my fourth test - why wouldn't you want to exercise till you can't go anymore?
Anyway, I my VO2max was 42.6ml/kg/min. VO2max is the maximal amount of oxygen consumed during high intensity, dynamic, large muscle group exercise. It's a measure of how well the lungs can take up oxygen, how well the heart can pump that oxygenated blood, and how well the muscles can use that oxygen to convert chemical energy to mechanical energy.
Depending on where you look, my VO2max puts me somewhere between average and superior for my age and gender. And I did it all with a broken pinky toe : )
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