CrossFit Atlanta Newsletter
News & Fitness Information from CrossFit Atlanta
March 5 2007 - Vol 1, Issue 5
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Is VO2 Max The Gold Standard?
Endurance athletes in particular place a lot of faith in VO2 Max as a measure of
fitness. It refers to the maximum volume of oxygen that a person is capable of using.
But at CrossFit we like to measure fitness by results. Your "Fran" time is more
relevant to us than VO2 max.
VO2 max as the ultimate measure of fitness has always had its critics, who note,
among other things, that it doesn't consider strength, and that it is activity specific.
If you're a runner, your score on a run test will be much higher than your score
on a bike test.
Recently some very interesting results in Tough FIreman competitions have raised
even more questions about VO2 max as a measure of fitness. The Orange County, CA
Fire Department has adopted CrossFit as its fitness protocol, and their firefighters,
along with others who do CrossFit, are winning the Tough FIreman competitions out
west. No surprise to us. But what is a huge surprise is that they do so while using
less O2 than their competitors. It's possible to measure O2 use in these competitions
because they wear breathing apparatus during the events. There is presently no scientific
theory in exercise physiology that can explain these astounding results. According
to VO2 max theory they should win by being able to use more O2, not less.
Dr. Lon Kilgore, associate professor of kinesiology at Midwestern State University
takes a stab at explaining these results in the current issue of the CrossFit Journal
The executive summary is that he believes: (1) CrossFit athletes operate more efficiently,
("adaptations in neuromuscular efficiency") and (2) they are stronger, so the metabolic
cost of a given amount of work is less for them.
While we are curious about the reasons why CrossFit works such wonders, at the end
of the day it doesn't really matter. We care more about results than theory.
