There's quite a few people thrown off by the numbers here (90%HRmax!), which is understandable, because it's a difficult protocol to follow. In fact, so difficult that it isn't feasible for everyone - for example, people of an older age (doing 3 high intensity workouts per week is near impossible). A few things to note: 1. I used the word 'sprint', but it does not need to be a sprint - in fact, any way of achieving near these numbers (for example, moving more slowly, but adding incline to a treadmill) will work, and 2. all exercise is dependent on personal circumstance - doing this three times per week for a 20 or 30 year old may be tough, but doable, but it may not at all be doable for someone older (so, if once per week is the best you can achieve without your legs falling off, then that's the limit and work to push that limit), and 3. Exercise goals require sacrifice - so, if you are doing high intensity exercise 3 times per week, that will affect your resistance training protocol, so you will need to make some sacrifices for the greatest VO2 improvements, although each will certainly feed a bit into one another. As for the numbers, they're accurate - straight out of the studies.
I'm sort of confused by this. I listened to Peter Attia and he said the bulk should be zone 2 training and only 1 session of HIT per week. Is this wrong?
I think 90% of HRmax is easy to achieve - 95% would be challenging to most. But it won't be achieved during initial stages of 15 seconds intervals, it takes considerable time to reach steady-state and intensity needs to be controlled using different metric, as HR is inadequate for short and high-intensity efforts. 3 times per week of this is practically unachievable for absolute majority, even trained amateurs.
@@arkytitan I did do sprints for one minute and my legs can not move so fast after a minute, but my heart rate is still not at max, so I totally agree with you.
Hey Alex - I know he's a proponent of Zone 2, and I haven't done much research in that area yet, so I don't know; however, keep in mind zone 2 is also around the active recovery phase outlined here (60-70%). I'm not sure where he got the once per week HIIT, because that's not what these studies indicate, but he may have more clinical reasons for choosing once per week that I'm not privy.
While I haven't participated in any Olympics but I have won medals at state level for 100,200,400m sprints. I am not sure how one would sprint for 15 seconds at their 90% and be ready for next in 15 seconds. You do this 5 times and you'll faint or not be able to give 90%.
It's 90% of max heart rate, not max sprinting speed. For a 30 y/o that'd be ~170 bpm which is not that crazy to go to and back from if you do sprint/jog intervals
@@gasparsigma Exactly. However finding your 90% of HR max speed is kinda tedious, because heart rate stabilizes in 3-4 minutes. So basically if you 'sprint' and your heart rate shoots up to 90% of max in 15 secs you are already at speeds which would tax the anaerobic system. It may be easier to just run fast, but not do an all out sprint for 15 secs, and then rest for 15 secs and repeat. Doing this one's HR is going to be all over the place. Easiest might be to set your HR monitor alarm at 90% of HR max and when this alarm goes of you just do the sprints slower until your alarm doesn't go off all the time. This is still going to be heavy exercise, if one does it 30 or 40 times like recommended in the video, and one will be super tired the rest of the day and maybe next few days as well.
@@gasparsigma It is ridiculous, nobody will do this. I been doing intervals my whole life and I am 63
17 дней назад+4
90% of the current level of exertion you're able to apply at that interval. It's obviously not 4x your peak sprint time. It''s 90% of your heartrate. Many people do that without fainting.
The end of the paper states: "Although both the 15/15 training group and the 4 x 4 min training group improved VO2max , the 47 repetitions of 15 x 15 s training at a velocity that eventually gives a heart rate at 90-95% HR max is difficult to administer. Interval training with longer intervals, like the 4 x 4 min training administered in this experiment, is thus recommended to improve VO2max." The word "eventually" strongly suggests that the intensity of the initial "sprints" is nowhere near all out. However, there are recordings of the heart rates of participants over representative workouts for each of the protocols and the 15X15 protocol shows the heart rate for the first several intervals climbing quickly, even during the "rest/recovery" periods, but once the heart rate rose above 170 (90% of that participant's 189 maximum heart rate, only twice dropping below 90%. The heart rate also never exceeded 180 (95% of that participant's maximum heart rate). Recovery to a heart rate of 132 NEVER happened for this participant during the displayed workout, but that is the only heart rate recording displayed for the 15X15 protocol. The idea that these participants were jogging at 70% of maximum heart rate between work intervals is apparently not what the researchers meant. What was actually happening was the speed that produced 70% of maximum heart rate during warm up was used. "15/15 interval running (15/15): The third group performed 47 repetitions of 15-s intervals at 90-95% HR max (180 to 190 +/- 6 bpm) with 15 s of active resting periods at warm-up velocity, corresponding to 70% HR max (140 +/- 6 bpm) between." "Training interventions 2-4 started with a 10-min warm-up and ended with a 3-min cool-down period at 70% HR max. All training sessions were performed running on a treadmill at 5.3% inclination (Fig. 1)." Perhaps the real intervention to study is the way the researchers managed to get participants to continue with this protocol for 8 weeks without losing a significant portion of the participants. 2 participants were dropped from the study for participating in less than 90% of the workouts, but it is not mentioned (or I missed it) which exercise group(s) these 2 people were dropped from. OTOH, 13 people dropped for "unrelated" illness/injury needs to be explained better. They may be telling the truth, but the participants may be misleading the researchers about their reasons for withdrawing from the study. What is the p value for the illness/injury withdrawals? Today is the first day of "Broken Resolutions" Month. Gyms are full at the beginning of the month, but much less so at the end. Those broken resolutions only come with self-imposed requirements, which can be adjusted or set low enough to be completed. "During the training period, 13 subjects dropped out of the study because of illness and injuries not related to the study. In addition, two of the subjects were excluded because they participated in fewer than 90% of the training sessions. The age, height, and weight of the 40 participating subjects were 24.6 +/- 3.8 yr, 182 +/- 6 cm, and 82.0 +/- 12.0 kg, respectively. Sci-Hub has the full paper available. .
It’s my understanding that HIIT is the fastest way to improve vo2 max but you will plateau before getting close to your full potential unless you incorporate a lot of zone 2 training. The common analogy is to think of doing lots of time-consuming zone 2 as building the base of a pyramid, the bigger the base, the higher vo2 max is supported. If you don’t have the time or commitment for doing lots of zone 2, doing HIIT only is likely the best option.
Yes you need a base. To build you base you need lots of zone 2. Best to do workout blocks. Start zone 2 training 2 weeks. Then add some tempo workouts for next few weeks. Then after a month you can add sprint intervals. All these videos saying sprints are best way to build V02 max are true, but you can't do that unless you already have a base of fitness.
Exactly this. If the goal is to find the most improvement over a couple of months then HIIT will be most effective. If you carry on doing that you will not just plateaux you will burn out. It takes years of longer endurance to create more capacity for growth in VO2 over time. Just need to look at what middle distance runners and cyclists train (who nees high 3-5 min outputs) to see that. The conclusions of these studies is both misleading and frankly dangerous for anything other than a short run boost to VO2.
@jeremyleake6868 yup. Like telling us older people we need to lift very heavy weights and do low reps to see the benefits of weight training. That is true, but starting with heavy weights as a beginner will get you a pulled muscle before seeing any benefits. A person with weak running form running as hard as they can will get them injured. Fitness is a process like anything. Start small, and fitness builds over time. Don't just go from the couch to doing all out sprints if you want to see gains over time.
Super simple routine: I do a 10 minute walk followed by 1 slow start sprint @ 80% 🏃♂️ after each meal. It provides me sustained energy throughout my day and helps with my blood sugar levels after each meal. It doesn’t affect my strength training days either. Breakfast: 10 minute walk followed by 1 sprint burst. Lunch: 10 minute walk followed by 1 sprint burst. Dinner: 10 minute walk followed by 1 sprint burst. This is more for daily energy and to keep my blood sugar stable after meals. Weekly total: 210 minutes of walking 21 sprint burst 🏃♂️ 2 full body strength training since I’m in my 50’s works for me. If I were younger I would do 3 full body workouts per week. The Starting Strength program is a good place to start with its linear progression. I also try to hang from a pull-up bar for 60 seconds + 3 to 5 times every other day. I’ll run a mile as fast as I can once a month for time. Happy New Year 🎉🎉🎉
@ between 50 to 200 yards. All with slow starts and up to 80% sprint speed. Since the walk is the warmup I always do slow starts and then ramp up the sprint speed. When I’m at work and in work clothes I’ll eat my lunch then do the 10 minute walk then I’ll come back into the office and just do a high knees sprint in place until I’m breathing heavily. The walks definitely helps with keeping my blood sugar level and sprint burst definitely keep me energized. I always feel great after a quick walk with a sprint burst. I enjoy these kind of exercise snacks throughout the day. It adds up to a decent amount of weekly steps and sprints and I don’t feel runned down. When I used to do dedicated sprints workouts say 10 rounds of sprints with 1:30 rest between rounds @ 80% and the last round of sprints with a 4 minute rest followed by 100% sprint effort it would wipe me out and would interfere a little with my strength training. These exercise daily snacks don’t interfere with my strength training at all. Also working in daily hangs from a pullup bar or gymnastic rings is great for so many reasons. Look it up on RUclips. I daily hang for 60+ seconds 3 to 5 times a day at different times throughout the day. I hope this helps. Happy New Year
@@GamesOfficialRUclips Nope no need it’s just a short single sprint after a 10 minute walk. If the weather isn’t cooperating, I’ll just do 100 bodyweight squats after each meal. Instead of the walk single sprint combo.
Yeah, I'm not a big fan of supplements neither. However sleep studies are kinda stupid. Get 7-8h of good quality sleep. You dont need to know much more. And diet studies... mediterran diet is winning all the awards, so that should be settled.
Zone 2 does not directly target VO2 max, by definition. However, it lays the groundwork in terms of aerobic adaptation, mitochondrial development, oxidative capacity, capillary density, etc., that set the stage for training-specific improvements to VO2 max. Having these in place does not directly improve VO2 max, but not having them in place hampers potential VO2 response to training stimulus.
Agreed!! I started with three hrs per week of zone two for 6 months, to provide the foundation. That wasn't based on any scientific study I had read, just common sense!!
But Zone 2 and HIIT work together in my experience. Even doing 4x4 once per week, I see the benefits in my Zone 2 training (three times per week). My heart rate is higher while staying in Zone 2, sometimes over 80% of my theoretical max HR. I'm assuming HIIT increases my actual max HR.
People seem to use the term "sprinting" far too liberally. Sprinting by definition means running at full speed. Physiologically, this generally corresponds to an anaerobic effort, and in athletics to the 100m, 200m and 400m distances. Neither the 15x15 workout, nor the 4x4 can be completed by sprinting. Most untrained people cannot sprint for more than 10-20 seconds before exhaustion, let alone several minutes, not to mention repeating this effort multiple times without significant rest.
That is one definition of sprinting for sure. Yet there is also a large field of research into "sprint interval training" (SIT) and the majority of that - or close to - is performed on cycle ergometers. Hence, if one is engaged in the literature related to high intensity interval training (HIIT) and its variations, like SIT and REHIT and Tabata, the term "sprint" very often has a different meaning to the one you prefer. So disagreeing with you about people using the term too liberally or rather, highlighting that it also has a firm definition within exercise science that differs. However, fully agreeing that a conventional run-as-fast-as-possible sprint is something that most untrained or lightly trained people would struggle hugely to do more than once within an exercise session. As a lifelong athlete I have *attempted* to using running-sprints for HIIT, and I just cannot. After 1x 10-20 second running-sprint I would need minutes of recovery to be able to perform the same thing again.
I've trained with a lot of professional fighters over the past 20 years and for V02 specifically we would do the Tabata protocol which is was killer. 20sec sprint/10second rest for 8 rounds. We would do that 2x per week in addition to normal training. A normal training day was 1hr hour of kickboxing sparring, 1hr grappling sparring in the afternoon and 45 min weightlifting mid day and one mountain run every Friday. The level of conditioning we had was unreal.
I love this! Thank you for sharing this top quality information in such an easy to understand way! Happy New Year - looking forward to all the great content to come :)
To anyone watching thinking they now have to go for this optimal strategy. Forget optimal. If the only thing you are going to do is optimal. You will end up doing nothing.
Yeah simply crazy unless fantastic shape already if 50 or 60 plus 80 years old get benefits strength training once a week (probably don't even do to real failure as that's hard mentally ) If able go to football/rugby field sprint across in 15-20 sprints , walk, jog, brisk walk back do 4 times Safer again go to gym an use an elliptical very safe as long as not dehydrated or very tired or fighting an infection ( chance of irregular heartbeat ) Want something quick- use ski erg machine do it as full squats, start with 15 to 20 squats/pulldowns rest 90 seconds ,repeat 4 more times , Get up to 40 squats ( about a minute ) rest 60 seconds repeat 3 more times . Over and done in 8 minutes , pretty safe if in good shape and strong core/lower back . Bonus great for strengthening quads
I've been doing a modified version of this for the last few months, sprint 100m swimming then 100m rest. Swimming at least 2km a week at zone 2 as well, fit it in around strength training and usually average 6,000m swimming a week. It absolutely sucks and you want to die by the end, but it works. According to my watch my VO2 max has gone from 25 to 33 since June. It's still nowhere close to where I want to be but definitely improving. My goal is to avoid familial heart issues and I seem to be going that way, off blood pressure meds and average daily heart rate has dropped 20bpm as has my resting heart rate.
The most noticeable (without any measurements) progress I've ever gained on any form of cardio was sled pushing, and there was also only 45lbs on it. 15 second sprint push as far as you can, and rest, do as many as you can for 20 minutes (yes lots of vomiting ensued in the beginning). I started with 3 minute rests but in only about a 2 month period I got it down to 1:45 rest (this is the only quantification I can give). Did this twice a week. Running, sprinting, anything cardio related was noticeably a lot easier. I wish I could do that protocol again but I don't have a sled nor a place I could push said sled. Just thought I'd share this for anyone wanting to try something different.
Have been a natural sprinter all my life, always sprint up any stair case I see. If possible, I avoid escalators and elevators. I live on the third floor,so I sprint up about 15 times a day. But I at 70, I won’t be doing that 47 times a day! Ain’t got time for that!
I'm a 58 y/o rec athlete and find "sustainability" to be an important factor. I used to do Sprint 8 HIIT when I was younger but I've settled on doing Billat 30/30s. Likely not as effective as 4x4 or other high wattage protocols but it is a workout I don't dread--and it's easy to tweak it. I can do it in the morning and still do my sport later in the day and recover well overnight. Hope to keep this up indefinitely.
I do nearly all of my cardio training on the elliptical because it allows for lots of hard work (5-6 hours per week) while avoiding injury, and although the bulk is a combination of zone 2 and harder tempo efforts (80ish% max heart rate), I strongly believe that the once per week 4x4 session at 90% max heart rate (or as close as I can get) provides the mis far too daunting as it takes a significant physical and mental toll as well as noticeably affecting my weight training the next day. Rather than multiple 4x4s I'll also do a longer but slightly less intense HIIT session each week involving lighter weights, calisthenics and cardio machines at 85% max heart rate because it's still beneficial but not nearly as taxing and I don't dread it like the 4x4. As for the 15x15 VO2 max protocol involving 47(?) rounds described in the video, that sounds like it should be reserved for professional athletes and lunatics only. Anyway, apologies for the essay, thanks for a great video and I wish this channel came to my attention much sooner. Subscribe!
@@keyman6385 Your stupid reply is useless due to the lack of specificity, and you're a hypocrite for writing a poorly constructed sentence that lacks a full stop.
@@AndyPresto75 Whoops, sorry for the abruptness - just trying to get the essential details straight. I wasn't sure what you meant by 'the mis far too daunting', honestly thought it might be a typo? In any case, a definite thumbs up for the elliptical - exactly what I used to lose ~45lbs via related HIIT. Sidenote, I also rely on other modes of exercise to engage more moderate degrees of HIIT. Otherwise, I'll spare you the specifics as I can tend to ramble on with far too many details which might be educational but taxing. ; )
Distance runners like myself and sprinters will take issue with the work "sprint" in this video. To most of us, sprinting is nearly all out. 4x 4:00 is a workout that I and my athletes (I'm a coach) often do, but it's rarely done faster than lactate threshold because of the damage that can be done to the aerobic system. On the flipside, it's common for us to do 4-6 hill sprints (nearly all out), but with full recovery. Good stuff, this video.
@@Physionic "sprint" in general is anaerobic effort, while VO2max-developing intervals need to be performed in the VO2max zone, well below "sprinting" intensity/power level.
When I do 4x4's my speed doesnt look or feel like sprinting. It's still very brutal and taxing exercise though, personally I try to do these only at maybe 80-85% HR max, any higher and you feel it for several days, and not in a good way.
I would also like to point out, those 100 year old blue zone Okinawans who are actively gardening and going for walks etc. are not doing the 4X4 protocol or the 47 15 second sprints which makes you think that some of theses studies are somewhat worthless while also knowing yes exercise is important. They are also not jumping on the latest unregulated suppliment trend. The answers to a long healthy life are not in a bottle, not on the track or treadmill nor in the gym doing deadlifts.
@@salvarunatortuga5396 Sardinia seems to have the highest percentage of centenarians, leading a simple peasant life of working outdoors, gardening, socializing and family - all proven to outweigh however genetics might factor into that - where they prove to be secondary. No doubt the climate and outdoors helps, along with quality of water and so on - not so much about guzzling a litre of olive oil a month as some would lead us to believe. ; )
Zone 2 makes your heart larger by stretching the chambers to hold the most blood. HIIT makes your heart chambers thicker and able to pump more forcefully but if you have not built large chambers and stroke volume with Zone 2 you are basically pumping less blood more forcefully. Basically Zone 2 maximizes how much blood can fill your heart. HIIT makes your heart pump that blood harder.
You can't sprint for 4 minutes!!!!! The longest sprint is 400m and takes olympic athletes 43-50 seconds. How can you maintain that equivalent level of effort as elite athletes for 4 times the duration. That's not sprinting. That's middle distance running which is high intensity but it's an absolute misnomer to call it sprinting.
Thanks for the great video. As a recreational and passionate runner, I agree with the main point proposed here. With a simple caveat: VO2max intervals are indeed great but (1) if you increase your overall weekly volume at easy / moderate intensity, you will be able to train more at VO2max intensity (2) three sessions per week of VO2max intervals per week are not sustainable for the vast majority of people over the long term. Injury risk also increases quite a lot, if we talk about running. Basically: almost every endurance athlete with some interest in training physiology knows that a sensible blend between easy , moderate and hard effort is required to improve overlay performance and VO2max as well . 4-8 minutes intervals alone , repeated several times per week , are not an option, in my understanding
The 15x15 protocol is strange. Heart rate is not an instant responder. If you are jogging at 70% HR, and you then do an all out for 15 seconds, you don't get to spend a lot of seconds at 90+.% Reversely, if you are at 90+ %, and you jog at any tempo, you don't get to spend a lot of seconds at 70%. Dropping your heart rate by 20% within 15 seconds after doing it 40+ times ... good luck finding people with that level of heart rate recovery. I don't see how this protocol is possible to execute.
On the other hand, if you base this on the 220-age junk, I might personally be able to do something similar. According to this "rule", which to my best knowledge is very unscientific, I should have a max HR of 171, when I clocked 202 at the end of a 30 minute run (Garmin HR Pro Plus chest strap). My average heart rate for the 30 minutes was 178 = 7 bpm above the "rule". If the scientists behind the study just "calculated" the participants' max HR with the "rule", I call bullshit on their "science".
Good thoughts. Anecdotal experience, if I go for 10 seconds all out on a Rogue Echo bike with fifty seconds rest for repeats, I quickly end up with a heart rate which does not go below 60% of max. So, maybe I am training across a few modalities. Or, my endurance sucks. The S&C trainer from Minnesota State (Dietz), says he doesn’t make his linemen run to train endurance. Rather, he has them go back and forth for one rep at 50% of max on the squat and bench. There is more than one way to skin the cat.
My favourite is 3x13x30/15 seconds: 3 blocks of 13 intervals 30 seconds HIGH, 15 seconds LOW, 39 intervals in total with 2 minutes rest (at LOW intensity) between the 13-intervals blocks. It's very tough indeed and after a long break I can't even perform such workout properly.
Very interesting stuff, thanks for covering these sorts of topics. Consider me a voice in the crowd asking for a potential video on the differences between aerobic and anaerobic respiration and their effects on performance in cardio exercise.
It would be interesting to see someone study the effects of methylene blue on VO2 short term and long-term use with HIIT. We already know its capable of allowing full cellular energy production even when lacking oxygen, where normal cellular energy production is at its lowest state in an absence of oxygen.
I was in high school cross country running and track in the mid-70s And we were aware of high intensity intermittent training then. It was called the European method for some reason. I'm surprised that this is surprising on New Year's Day 2025!
I wish it was highlighted that regular exercise, even low intensity, long duration, will still improve VO2 max…just not quite as much as pure HIIT training. This is important because some people see these data and think that the only way to get results is by doing high intensity, but they may not find that type of exercise to be very achievable regularly.
Many have been unaware that VO2max has relevance to health, and not only matters of sport, such as race time. It shows the importance of videos like these to raise awareness.
I watched 1000 vo2max vids and I still dont know whats more important. 1) Holding a high poweroutput for as long as possible 2) Or having HR > 90% for as long as possible If 1) is the answer, I would go with Intervals with a fixed poweroutput. Something between 15sec-5min. If 2) is the answer, I would sprint until my HR reached its goal and keep it there with an as low as possible power. (Slightly above critical power.)
Losing weight can radically increase relative VO2 max with just low- to moderate-intensity exercise without increasing absolute VO2 max. For most people this can constitute huge chunk of improvement. A regular man with losing 15 kg from 85 kg to 70 kg can push VO2 max from pretty bad 45 ml/kg/min to rather impressive 54 ml/kg/min (which is excellent), or more. Interval training is so mentally-taxing that most untrained individuals won't be able to perform these protocols without years of training under the belt. If anything, this is useful for performance athletes who are very well-familiar with and mentally prepared to extreme exertion levels, and who seek more performance while LSD or zone 2 training do not create sufficient training stress to push adaptations further.
I think you can only determine that short intervals by Power (Watts) or %FTP. Then you run at a 130% of FTP for 15 sec and another 15 sec at 75% of FTP and your HR will only slightly oscillate nearby 90%HRmax. I don't know if there is a different metabolism engaged than at a steady effort like 4min, but the 15sec pause prevents you from collapsing after few minutes😅. Another benefit is that you are always accelerating again, so you get your legs trained harder than with a 4min interval. Its another muscle recruitement.
Do not try to add HIIT unless you have a good base. Build your base first with Zone 2. Add HIIT into your training. It's like a guy going to the gym and trying to deadlift 500lbs when he can barely get off the couch
Meh... depends on how you do HIIT. The big roadblock between a beginner and HIIT is weak bones and ligaments, as in risk of injury, which you can absolutely first build up with Z2. But you can also incorporate HIIT right away if it's low impact, like swimming or cycling.
95% is to high as many people have noted. But the point form the study still stands. In peak physical condition you should be able to do 90% of max during Vo2 max training but it really depends on the total interval time and how well you warmup.
Trying to monitor heart rates and effort during the 15x15 sounds like it would be difficult. I'm yet to try but I think the 4x4 would be more manageable. Great video!
I guess the researchers couldn't test legitimate wind sprints because most treadmills I have seen in the US top out around 12 mph. But to maximize your capacity to use oxygen, it would make sense to run your fastest. So that would mean run about 100m (a quarter of the way around a track), and walk the rest of the way around until you're recovered enough to go hard again. And repeat a few times. Or you could just run hard on a road for about 15 seconds, and walk a few minutes. It's also a surprisingly good way to train your hip flexors -- the top lump on your quads and your lower abs. No sit ups required!
Vo2 max of 67 here. I'm 47 years old, and all I do is Olympic Weightlifting 5 days a week and 2 days of very light zone 2 for 20 minutes 2 times a week.😊
@spidos1000 I was trying to point out that you don't necessarily have to do hiit or a Norwegian protocol to improve your vo2 max. That's all! I like the oly lifts because they result in very functional training responses, especially those that decrease with age. They recruit fast twitch fibers, increase strength, increase flexibility, increase proprioception, increase bone density, increase muscle mass, increase Vo2 max. Hell, at 47, I still have a 36" vertical jump. So yeah, it makes me feel like a kid, so I'm happy with that! Be easy brother!
@@MMPRECISIONPAINTING Resistance training helps regulate hormones that increase nitric oxide, "contributing to improved blood flow and vascular health "
So just got back from the gym. 58 yo fit male. After 5 rounds of 15/15, HR was above 150 consistantly (162 max according to nicks simple formula) even during rest periods, then I had to extend the rest period from 15 to 30 to 45 seconds to prevent HR from going higher and to prevent passing out. I was able to go 20 minutes. Lost track of the rounds, I know it wasnt 47. Pretty difficult. Not sure I could even do the 4X4 routine. Dont see how I could "sprint" or maintain 150 BPM for 4 minutes. Maybe with a slow progression of consistant training. Would have dial back hard resistance training 3X week.
Is increasing VO2 max causal for health and longevity, or is it a marker? And do activities specifically designed to increase it cause those benefits, or are other activities that tangentially increase it more beneficial? I'm most interested in which lifestyle factors will cause me to be healthier and live longer, whether or not they increase markers like VO2 max, strength, etc...
I do cardio everyday (jump rope or running, and sprinting one every 5 days), but I continue to be critical of V02 max as a proxy measurement for extended longevity beyond a paltry few years. If V02 max is the key to longevity, then how come : (1) 4 minute milers and olympic marathoners tend to only live to the average age of 77, (2) brisk walkers tend to live to the age of 86, (3) Olympic Golfers have the same lifespan as Olympic Cyclists. The Elite Cardio athletes are not doing so well in lifespan measurements compared to walkers. Sources: 1. 4 minute milers - BMJ 2. Olympic Marathoners - BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil 3. Brisk Walkers - 2019 Mayo Clinic Proceedings / UK Biobank Data
The way others have addressed this data in the past is that they presume / argue that the Elite athletes must have gotten fat and out of shape in their elderly years and that's why the stats are skewed like that. In essence, others have' presumed that the Elites lost their V02 max levels as they got older out of laziness. I don't buy that argument. First, the upper echelon of the Elites have intrinsically naturally high VO2 levels, even without training. Second, Elite Athletes don't tend to be lazy and they tend to have a lot of discipline. I doubt that most Elites go from a history of high level fitness to sitting on the couch most of the time.
Nick could you please give me a comment on my workout schedule? I'am 61 years old and trained for 6 years with weights and cardio in the gym and open air 3-4 times a week. For 8 weeks, I started to train like this: Once a week I do a Norwegian 4x4 like you described. I do this in the gym with a treadmill and choose a speed based on the speed men of 60 run with a Cooper test. So I started at 11,6 km/hr for 4 times for 4 minutes. I could do this, so every week I added 0,1 km/hr. At 12 km/hr I hit a brick wall that I am not able to cross (I nearly complete the last run). 12 km/hr on the Cooper test is excellent for age 55, but that is continuing for 12 minutes and complete that. The only difference is that in the 3 minutes between the HIIT 4 minutes run I walk so slow that my heatbeat slows down from max 160 to 100. That is not 70% capacity but just a normal walk. And the last break, I need an extra minute to slow down my heart rate for the last run. I feel like a complete squashed orange, without any juice left, but after 5 minutes I can complete my strength training exercises and after half an hour I can even do a zone 2 cardio training. The rest of the week I do only as much zone 2 training (heartbeat at max 110) on cross trainer, treadmill, rower and cycle. You said in your video that in the study people did the Norwegian 4x4 three times a week? Do you need so much HIIT training to improve your VO2MAX? After my Norwegian 4x4 I need days to build up for a new one. In the meantime I eat and sleep as best as possible, and yes I eat enough omega-3 from fish, protein and creatine every day. So,what would be your advice in my case if I want to gradually improve my VO2MAX, based on your knowledge and studies? Thanks!
Echoing many others: HIIT is best done when peaking. Moderate, steady-state is the foundation. Structuring your training without both is like making a sandwich without the bread and the filling. If you are a long distance or a middle distance runner, 4 x 4, is intuitively the best protocol. Less chance of burnout and injury. Tabata done with fidelity can be hell. 95% of max heart rate is extreme. The long term fatigue from and potential risks of HIIT should not be underestimated. I think many American athletes experienced this firsthand in the 20th Century when coaches were obsessed with interval training. CrossFit athletes who experience rabdo are also a stark warning. Yes, you can literally kill yourself with too much exercise. Thanks for bringing up the research, though.
I've done a lot of running in my life and stillrun and sprint regularly at 70. I cannot believe that even a professional athlete can do 47 (!) 110m (approx.) almost full-out sprints interspersed with "rests" of 47 15-second jogs.
Great video! Could you maybe weigh the benefits of HIIT and zone 2 and how to properly implement the 2 types of training in one’s routine? It seems to me downright impossible to do 3 or even 2 HIIT workouts at such intensity, plus enough zone 2 in order to develop aerobic capacity together with resistance training, there’s just no room for recovery there.
It's doable but it absolutely fucking sucks, takes a fair bit of willpower. The good in the bad is that it's based on heart rate, not power/pace so it will take less and less power to stay up there in the 90-95 as those 4 min goes on. 1-2 min also sort of falls away as it will take some time to get up to the 90-95%.
ohhh if only it was that simple, I found that my vo2 is higher when Im doing a lot of running, as most vo2 tests are done during running, I guess its inevitable the better you are at running the better your vo2 max will be... and running has many mechanical aspects to it....
As you point to the side of the frame, "Check out the video right here." Nothing shows. It's been that way for most of your videos here on YT. 🙄 Again, another great video. Saving up to join Physionics. 🙂
I know - nothing I can do. Interestingly, in my analytics I can see people clicking onto the next video, so it's a minority of people who are affected. Awesome - I'm looking forward to it.
Lol ex semi pro sprinter here and current anaesthesiologist/intensivist. Let me tell you all right now. It is literally impossible for even oly pic sprinters to do 95% of max sprints for 15secs with ten minutes rest 10 times. There's no way any human can do 95% 15secs rest 47times lol. Literally impossible. It is nowhere near 95% olympic athletes that are finalists do 95% in their semi finals and then have to try to recover over four hours before the finals. If you do a 100% 15 second sprint you'd be unable to move possibly throwing up and wiped out for ten minutes. This protocol is nonsense. The intensity most people think is 90% from my experience training sprinters is usually 65ish.
Basically get your heart rate up to 90%. From there sprint 15 s and jog 15 s for 47 times. Should take you around 14 mins. What you are doing is stimulating the most oxygen consumption during exercise. Basically you are training between zone 3 and zone 5 for 14 mins. It's not really a sprint. It's more like surge and float
The word "sprint" was used loosely here. Similarly, there's no way a person can "sprint" for 4 minutes straight, but the percentage of HR max tells the real intensity.
You are an elite athlete if you can do 15 second sprints with 15 seconds of rest 47 times, im in excellent health and can go nowhere near this on the bike at least. If you try this your heart rate and breathing will be put of control for the whole time.
Interesting side note (to me): I’m 53, can run up mountains at a pace of less than 20 minutes per 1000 feet of elevation, holding a heartrate in the 180s for a good 2 hours, while eating chewy protein bars… not get out of breath… and my Apple Watch tells me my VO2 sucks and I’m out of shape 🤷♂️
Not the right tool for the job..."Unfortunately, VO2 max cannot be measured accurately without the face mask that measures the level of oxygen you intake. The smartwatch's only information is your heart rate and your pace."
I really appreciate your efforts! A bit off-topic, but I wanted to ask: I have a SafePal wallet with USDT, and I have the seed phrase. (alarm fetch churn bridge exercise tape speak race clerk couch crater letter). What's the best way to send them to Binance?
Peter Attia recommends a different 4x4, which you probably know: for each 4-min. Interval, increase speed minute-by-minute from low to max intensity. Evidence?
4x4 min (or 5x5 min) is classical interval training, but it's pretty much constant effort interval followed by equal duration recovery interval, then repeat. I think Attia is preaching this typical 4x4 min.
Averaging various methods like the 220-age, Kavonen, Tanaka methods, my theoretical max heart rate is way too high. I go into afib on days that I'm at 90% of it. It's fascinating stuff. Thanks.
While VO2 max correlates to longevity, is there any research confirming that improving VO2 max above say the 75th percentile CAUSES improved longevity or is it possible simply that people who have the genetics to get to the 90th percentile are physically more robust, making achieving a very high VO2 max just a sign, and possibly not even improving longevity? Plausibly the work to get there could even negatively impact longevity? I am wondering if it could just be a sign that someone can tolerate physical stress needed to reach that level. Anyway, I've seen research that the limiting factor on getting to 90%+ is increased lung capillary density and all other factors will just improve enough to keep up with that.
Not as far as I know. On the contrary, a recent Mendelian study found no causal link between vo2 max and longevity. I think it's safe to say that improving your cardiorespiratoy fitness has beneficial and healthy effects on your body that will translate to lower mortality risk, as seen in many controlled studies implementing physical activity. However, the effect on lower mortality risk is usually around 40-50 percent comparing the highest to lowest quantile exercise groups after adjusting for other factors, which is why I think a lot of people were sceptical about the claim that having an elite vo2max would lower your mortality risks by something like 500 percent. I think that's clearly a healthy user bias not properly adjusted for in the data. Again, there is some very interesting research on cardiorespiratory fitness and vo2max and no doubt that it helps, not to mention that it's a proxy for being in great health if you manage to get good numbers because of all the factors that goes into it. But the jury is still out on exactly how much vo2max matters for longevity.
@TC-by3il I can think of many women in the family who have reached 80 plus and done no high intensity or any fitness whats do over . They did keep themselves busy mind, and always doing things , so plenty of z1 activity and some z 2
@@Foxtrottangoabc My aunt died at 98 (oldest, by far, in her family) without doing any exercise as an adult. No, she did not live in a blue zone, and her two brothers didn't get within a decade of her age. In fact, she didn't even do much zone 1-2 activity. Her husband was the gardener. He died in his mid-'80s of kidney failure and cancer.
Yeah. I was wondering the same thing. Its like saying people who caugh more are more likely to die and then you are training yourself not to caugh to improve your chances of not dying
That's where you keep moving during recovery - similar to how they used to tell us to 'walk it off' after a race in gym class. Probably helps recovery but some emphasize minimizing recovery which is more stressful but forces upregulation of autonomic response & adaptation's with are intended to facilitate maximizing VO2 max.
I've been trying to figure out if the intermittent nature of activity matters - whether intervals vs continuous has an effect. At the high end the intensity has to be intermittent, so it would be studies of low intensity efforts that would sort this out. There is a protocol of interval walking formulated in Japan. It is possible that intervals make a difference, it would be interesting to see lots more studies of this.
More about picking the right exercise for your age, health and ability to engage. Lower intensity and longer walks, with the faster paced intervals, is of course very sensible for those not suited for HIIT which might even be contradictory.
I gather there's some benefits to minimizing recovery periods, in order to trigger the autonomic system to adapt more strongly to the training? That's assuming you do it properly/gradually, so as not to wreck yourself in the process, by overstressing your lungs which can cause them to shutdown vs. your body saying it needs more oxygen. It's why nutrition and potentially supplementation, is so important as well vs. garbage-in = garbage-out.
I wonder how a synthetic method such as HBOT (HyperBaric Oxygen Therapy) sessions twice or 3 times a week might help or hinder this particular metric. The reason I bring it up, is that besides the mentioned protocols being hard to follow, there are a significant amount of people who may not be starting from the best shape or ability, and as such, I find interesting the idea that supplementing any regimen with easier to follow, albeit less organic procedures may potentially net a benefit.
Haha i just checked. Last interval i did were 8x 30sec full power hill sprints (steep incline). That got me into zone 4 (of 5). I wanna see people doing that 47x. That would be funny to watch when your legs are done after 10-15x.
Good one, my recent blood work showed co2 in blood just a touch higher than "normal range", any way to fix that. I do gym daily 2+ hr and hiit once a week (cycle). 77yo Froggy Happy New Year.
@Physionic Hi thanks! May I ask what if those HIIT protocols are compared with IHHT (Interval Hypercapnic Hypoxic Training)? How does IHHT compares for VO2 Max? Thanks!
I want to improve my VO2 because I have neuropathy in multiple areas of my body. I do some weight training and walk daily but was wanting to increase Autophagy beyond the normal range I'm in currently doing periodic OMAD and on occasion a 2-3 day fast.
Not sure if it’s good or bad. But I can’t seem to exercise in zone 2. I’m more “comfortable” running 30 min in zone 4- but ease up if I hit red zone. 51yrs old hr around 145-159. During my daily 5 k. Always just under 30 min. Vo2 max went from 30ish to 37 in 11months 4-5 times per week…. With the odd 10 k thrown in for good measure
I have Long Covid ... HIIT just triggers a flare (and then I am sick and possible bedbound for days or even weeks). Do you have any recommendations? I couldn't persuade you to do something on LC (be careful ... it's a "rabbit hole"). A lot of people would be interested to hear your thoughts.
Definitely fix that before you do anything strenuous, especially with a related compromise. Ideally you've done all the research you can regarding LC and related impacts, potentially (also) where certain vaccines have been flagged due to some people's negative reaction to them?
At age 75 I run flat out hard for 15 seconds and rest until breathe is normal. Repeat maybe 4 times. Relaxing about the details, It's relative; i.e; run hard and then rest until breathe is normal. Repeat.
Hey Nic, I'm 58 and max heart rate is 162. I do 35 mins on a treadmill 5 days per week. I start walking for 3 mins and HR gets to 110 bpm or so, then I increase the incline for about 5 mins so HR gets to around 150 bpm. Been doing this for a year now. How can I test to see if V02 Max is getting better?
You're killing it. Great work, especially since you're hitting that 90% threshold - kudos to you. There are a number of VO2 tests you can use to test your improvement over time - I have three I cover step by step for the Insiders, but in short - you can use something like a Cooper test, or if you want to test it directly, you'll need to go to an exercise physiology lab.
Above, close to VO2 max. You can do a simple test, after warming up for 15 minutes and doing some drills you run for 6 minutes as fast as you can with a sustained pace. A slight decrease or increase in pace is allowed but try to be as consistent as you can. This is your VO2 max pace, let’s imagine is 4 min/ km. Then your intervals can be done at roughly 5% slower, let’s get 4’12’’ at a good pace. If you start on the protocol, is better to begin at the low boundary, that’s it 10% more time per kilometer than your VO2 max speed. In the example will be 4’24’’ / km. Heart rate should be also at this rates, perhaps slightly higher, but is not very trustable in 4 minutes. Also I advice you to begin with just 2x4, then aim to 3x4. 4x4 is too much for an amateur runner, some elite couches advice 8 min per week at VO2 max in beginners, 12 in intermediate runners and only 16 min/week in advanced.
This sounds a lot like standard resistance training. Like periods of high intensity followed by periods of "rest". So could you tell me how they compare as a way to improve VO2?
There's quite a few people thrown off by the numbers here (90%HRmax!), which is understandable, because it's a difficult protocol to follow. In fact, so difficult that it isn't feasible for everyone - for example, people of an older age (doing 3 high intensity workouts per week is near impossible). A few things to note:
1. I used the word 'sprint', but it does not need to be a sprint - in fact, any way of achieving near these numbers (for example, moving more slowly, but adding incline to a treadmill) will work, and
2. all exercise is dependent on personal circumstance - doing this three times per week for a 20 or 30 year old may be tough, but doable, but it may not at all be doable for someone older (so, if once per week is the best you can achieve without your legs falling off, then that's the limit and work to push that limit), and
3. Exercise goals require sacrifice - so, if you are doing high intensity exercise 3 times per week, that will affect your resistance training protocol, so you will need to make some sacrifices for the greatest VO2 improvements, although each will certainly feed a bit into one another.
As for the numbers, they're accurate - straight out of the studies.
Thank you and my legs don't fall off 😂.
I'm sort of confused by this. I listened to Peter Attia and he said the bulk should be zone 2 training and only 1 session of HIT per week. Is this wrong?
I think 90% of HRmax is easy to achieve - 95% would be challenging to most. But it won't be achieved during initial stages of 15 seconds intervals, it takes considerable time to reach steady-state and intensity needs to be controlled using different metric, as HR is inadequate for short and high-intensity efforts. 3 times per week of this is practically unachievable for absolute majority, even trained amateurs.
@@arkytitan I did do sprints for one minute and my legs can not move so fast after a minute, but my heart rate is still not at max, so I totally agree with you.
Hey Alex - I know he's a proponent of Zone 2, and I haven't done much research in that area yet, so I don't know; however, keep in mind zone 2 is also around the active recovery phase outlined here (60-70%). I'm not sure where he got the once per week HIIT, because that's not what these studies indicate, but he may have more clinical reasons for choosing once per week that I'm not privy.
While I haven't participated in any Olympics but I have won medals at state level for 100,200,400m sprints. I am not sure how one would sprint for 15 seconds at their 90% and be ready for next in 15 seconds. You do this 5 times and you'll faint or not be able to give 90%.
It's 90% of max heart rate, not max sprinting speed. For a 30 y/o that'd be ~170 bpm which is not that crazy to go to and back from if you do sprint/jog intervals
@@gasparsigma Exactly. However finding your 90% of HR max speed is kinda tedious, because heart rate stabilizes in 3-4 minutes. So basically if you 'sprint' and your heart rate shoots up to 90% of max in 15 secs you are already at speeds which would tax the anaerobic system. It may be easier to just run fast, but not do an all out sprint for 15 secs, and then rest for 15 secs and repeat. Doing this one's HR is going to be all over the place. Easiest might be to set your HR monitor alarm at 90% of HR max and when this alarm goes of you just do the sprints slower until your alarm doesn't go off all the time. This is still going to be heavy exercise, if one does it 30 or 40 times like recommended in the video, and one will be super tired the rest of the day and maybe next few days as well.
@@gasparsigma It is ridiculous, nobody will do this. I been doing intervals my whole life and I am 63
90% of the current level of exertion you're able to apply at that interval. It's obviously not 4x your peak sprint time. It''s 90% of your heartrate. Many people do that without fainting.
The end of the paper states:
"Although both the 15/15 training group and the 4 x 4 min training group improved VO2max , the 47 repetitions of 15 x 15 s training at a velocity that eventually gives a heart rate at 90-95% HR max is difficult to administer. Interval training with longer intervals, like the 4 x 4 min training administered in this experiment, is thus recommended to improve VO2max."
The word "eventually" strongly suggests that the intensity of the initial "sprints" is nowhere near all out. However, there are recordings of the heart rates of participants over representative workouts for each of the protocols and the 15X15 protocol shows the heart rate for the first several intervals climbing quickly, even during the "rest/recovery" periods, but once the heart rate rose above 170 (90% of that participant's 189 maximum heart rate, only twice dropping below 90%. The heart rate also never exceeded 180 (95% of that participant's maximum heart rate). Recovery to a heart rate of 132 NEVER happened for this participant during the displayed workout, but that is the only heart rate recording displayed for the 15X15 protocol.
The idea that these participants were jogging at 70% of maximum heart rate between work intervals is apparently not what the researchers meant. What was actually happening was the speed that produced 70% of maximum heart rate during warm up was used.
"15/15 interval running (15/15): The third group performed 47 repetitions of 15-s intervals at 90-95% HR max (180 to 190 +/- 6 bpm) with 15 s of active resting periods at warm-up velocity, corresponding to 70% HR max (140 +/- 6 bpm) between."
"Training interventions 2-4 started with a 10-min warm-up and ended with a 3-min cool-down period at 70% HR max. All training sessions were performed running on a treadmill at 5.3% inclination (Fig. 1)."
Perhaps the real intervention to study is the way the researchers managed to get participants to continue with this protocol for 8 weeks without losing a significant portion of the participants. 2 participants were dropped from the study for participating in less than 90% of the workouts, but it is not mentioned (or I missed it) which exercise group(s) these 2 people were dropped from. OTOH, 13 people dropped for "unrelated" illness/injury needs to be explained better. They may be telling the truth, but the participants may be misleading the researchers about their reasons for withdrawing from the study. What is the p value for the illness/injury withdrawals? Today is the first day of "Broken Resolutions" Month. Gyms are full at the beginning of the month, but much less so at the end. Those broken resolutions only come with self-imposed requirements, which can be adjusted or set low enough to be completed.
"During the training period, 13 subjects dropped out of the study because of illness and injuries not related to the study. In addition, two of the subjects were excluded because they participated in fewer than 90% of the training sessions. The age, height, and weight of the 40 participating subjects were 24.6 +/- 3.8 yr, 182 +/- 6 cm, and 82.0 +/- 12.0 kg, respectively.
Sci-Hub has the full paper available.
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Blimey, mate, you’re looking better every day-keep this up and it’s the Men’s Health cover for you!
What's he doing? He looks so different!
@@XAUCADTrader he has a better haircut
It’s my understanding that HIIT is the fastest way to improve vo2 max but you will plateau before getting close to your full potential unless you incorporate a lot of zone 2 training. The common analogy is to think of doing lots of time-consuming zone 2 as building the base of a pyramid, the bigger the base, the higher vo2 max is supported. If you don’t have the time or commitment for doing lots of zone 2, doing HIIT only is likely the best option.
Yes you need a base. To build you base you need lots of zone 2. Best to do workout blocks. Start zone 2 training 2 weeks. Then add some tempo workouts for next few weeks. Then after a month you can add sprint intervals. All these videos saying sprints are best way to build V02 max are true, but you can't do that unless you already have a base of fitness.
Exactly this. If the goal is to find the most improvement over a couple of months then HIIT will be most effective. If you carry on doing that you will not just plateaux you will burn out. It takes years of longer endurance to create more capacity for growth in VO2 over time. Just need to look at what middle distance runners and cyclists train (who nees high 3-5 min outputs) to see that. The conclusions of these studies is both misleading and frankly dangerous for anything other than a short run boost to VO2.
@jeremyleake6868 yup. Like telling us older people we need to lift very heavy weights and do low reps to see the benefits of weight training. That is true, but starting with heavy weights as a beginner will get you a pulled muscle before seeing any benefits. A person with weak running form running as hard as they can will get them injured. Fitness is a process like anything. Start small, and fitness builds over time. Don't just go from the couch to doing all out sprints if you want to see gains over time.
That's a good observation. A good all-around cardio regimen will benefit you the most, even if your main focus is to improve HIIT.
That’s simply correct
Super simple routine:
I do a 10 minute walk followed by 1 slow start sprint @ 80% 🏃♂️ after each meal.
It provides me sustained energy throughout my day and helps with my blood sugar levels after each meal.
It doesn’t affect my strength training days either.
Breakfast: 10 minute walk followed by 1 sprint burst.
Lunch: 10 minute walk followed by 1 sprint burst.
Dinner: 10 minute walk followed by 1 sprint burst.
This is more for daily energy and to keep my blood sugar stable after meals.
Weekly total:
210 minutes of walking
21 sprint burst 🏃♂️
2 full body strength training since I’m in my 50’s works for me. If I were younger I would do 3 full body workouts per week.
The Starting Strength program is a good place to start with its linear progression.
I also try to hang from a pull-up bar for 60 seconds + 3 to 5 times every other day.
I’ll run a mile as fast as I can once a month for time.
Happy New Year 🎉🎉🎉
I love this. I’m gonna do this too. How far do you sprint?
@ between 50 to 200 yards. All with slow starts and up to 80% sprint speed. Since the walk is the warmup I always do slow starts and then ramp up the sprint speed.
When I’m at work and in work clothes I’ll eat my lunch then do the 10 minute walk then I’ll come back into the office and just do a high knees sprint in place until I’m breathing heavily.
The walks definitely helps with keeping my blood sugar level and sprint burst definitely keep me energized. I always feel great after a quick walk with a sprint burst.
I enjoy these kind of exercise snacks throughout the day. It adds up to a decent amount of weekly steps and sprints and I don’t feel runned down.
When I used to do dedicated sprints workouts say 10 rounds of sprints with 1:30 rest between rounds @ 80% and the last round of sprints with a 4 minute rest followed by 100% sprint effort it would wipe me out and would interfere a little with my strength training.
These exercise daily snacks don’t interfere with my strength training at all.
Also working in daily hangs from a pullup bar or gymnastic rings is great for so many reasons. Look it up on RUclips. I daily hang for 60+ seconds 3 to 5 times a day at different times throughout the day.
I hope this helps.
Happy New Year
So you shower after every meal basically?
@@GamesOfficialRUclips Nope no need it’s just a short single sprint after a 10 minute walk.
If the weather isn’t cooperating, I’ll just do 100 bodyweight squats after each meal. Instead of the walk single sprint combo.
I want more exercise studies!
Don't get me wrong. The supplements studies are good. I just want more exercise, diet, and sleep studies to be mixed in.
I love the sleep studies. We don't have enough quantity of good quality of dissection of those studies. I love Nick's take on those.
Yeah, I'm not a big fan of supplements neither.
However sleep studies are kinda stupid. Get 7-8h of good quality sleep. You dont need to know much more.
And diet studies... mediterran diet is winning all the awards, so that should be settled.
Happy New Year, Nick. Thank you for your great info!
Happy new year :)
Zone 2 does not directly target VO2 max, by definition. However, it lays the groundwork in terms of aerobic adaptation, mitochondrial development, oxidative capacity, capillary density, etc., that set the stage for training-specific improvements to VO2 max.
Having these in place does not directly improve VO2 max, but not having them in place hampers potential VO2 response to training stimulus.
Agreed!! I started with three hrs per week of zone two for 6 months, to provide the foundation. That wasn't based on any scientific study I had read, just common sense!!
But Zone 2 and HIIT work together in my experience. Even doing 4x4 once per week, I see the benefits in my Zone 2 training (three times per week). My heart rate is higher while staying in Zone 2, sometimes over 80% of my theoretical max HR. I'm assuming HIIT increases my actual max HR.
Even LSD can improve VO2max, especially in those, who have very low baseline training level and excess body mass.
People seem to use the term "sprinting" far too liberally. Sprinting by definition means running at full speed. Physiologically, this generally corresponds to an anaerobic effort, and in athletics to the 100m, 200m and 400m distances.
Neither the 15x15 workout, nor the 4x4 can be completed by sprinting. Most untrained people cannot sprint for more than 10-20 seconds before exhaustion, let alone several minutes, not to mention repeating this effort multiple times without significant rest.
That is one definition of sprinting for sure.
Yet there is also a large field of research into "sprint interval training" (SIT) and the majority of that - or close to - is performed on cycle ergometers.
Hence, if one is engaged in the literature related to high intensity interval training (HIIT) and its variations, like SIT and REHIT and Tabata, the term "sprint" very often has a different meaning to the one you prefer.
So disagreeing with you about people using the term too liberally or rather, highlighting that it also has a firm definition within exercise science that differs.
However, fully agreeing that a conventional run-as-fast-as-possible sprint is something that most untrained or lightly trained people would struggle hugely to do more than once within an exercise session. As a lifelong athlete I have *attempted* to using running-sprints for HIIT, and I just cannot. After 1x 10-20 second running-sprint I would need minutes of recovery to be able to perform the same thing again.
I've trained with a lot of professional fighters over the past 20 years and for V02 specifically we would do the Tabata protocol which is was killer. 20sec sprint/10second rest for 8 rounds. We would do that 2x per week in addition to normal training.
A normal training day was 1hr hour of kickboxing sparring, 1hr grappling sparring in the afternoon and 45 min weightlifting mid day and one mountain run every Friday. The level of conditioning we had was unreal.
One of the best and most informative channels on health and science on RUclips! Thanks for your on-going work.
I love this! Thank you for sharing this top quality information in such an easy to understand way!
Happy New Year - looking forward to all the great content to come :)
To anyone watching thinking they now have to go for this optimal strategy.
Forget optimal.
If the only thing you are going to do is optimal.
You will end up doing nothing.
Yeah simply crazy unless fantastic shape already if 50 or 60 plus
80 years old get benefits strength training once a week (probably don't even do to real failure as that's hard mentally )
If able go to football/rugby field sprint across in 15-20 sprints , walk, jog, brisk walk back do 4 times
Safer again go to gym an use an elliptical very safe as long as not dehydrated or very tired or fighting an infection ( chance of irregular heartbeat )
Want something quick- use ski erg machine do it as full squats, start with 15 to 20 squats/pulldowns rest 90 seconds ,repeat 4 more times , Get up to 40 squats ( about a minute ) rest 60 seconds repeat 3 more times . Over and done in 8 minutes , pretty safe if in good shape and strong core/lower back . Bonus great for strengthening quads
I've been doing a modified version of this for the last few months, sprint 100m swimming then 100m rest. Swimming at least 2km a week at zone 2 as well, fit it in around strength training and usually average 6,000m swimming a week. It absolutely sucks and you want to die by the end, but it works. According to my watch my VO2 max has gone from 25 to 33 since June. It's still nowhere close to where I want to be but definitely improving. My goal is to avoid familial heart issues and I seem to be going that way, off blood pressure meds and average daily heart rate has dropped 20bpm as has my resting heart rate.
The most noticeable (without any measurements) progress I've ever gained on any form of cardio was sled pushing, and there was also only 45lbs on it. 15 second sprint push as far as you can, and rest, do as many as you can for 20 minutes (yes lots of vomiting ensued in the beginning). I started with 3 minute rests but in only about a 2 month period I got it down to 1:45 rest (this is the only quantification I can give). Did this twice a week. Running, sprinting, anything cardio related was noticeably a lot easier. I wish I could do that protocol again but I don't have a sled nor a place I could push said sled. Just thought I'd share this for anyone wanting to try something different.
Have been a natural sprinter all my life, always sprint up any stair case I see. If possible, I avoid escalators and elevators.
I live on the third floor,so I sprint up about 15 times a day. But I at 70, I won’t be doing that 47 times a day! Ain’t got time for that!
I'm a 58 y/o rec athlete and find "sustainability" to be an important factor. I used to do Sprint 8 HIIT when I was younger but I've settled on doing Billat 30/30s. Likely not as effective as 4x4 or other high wattage protocols but it is a workout I don't dread--and it's easy to tweak it. I can do it in the morning and still do my sport later in the day and recover well overnight. Hope to keep this up indefinitely.
I so needed this one!!
The concept of health in "The 23 Former Doctor Truths" book completely explains this. I wish I read it sooner
Excellent content brother. Keep up the good work! 👏 🙌
I do nearly all of my cardio training on the elliptical because it allows for lots of hard work (5-6 hours per week) while avoiding injury, and although the bulk is a combination of zone 2 and harder tempo efforts (80ish% max heart rate), I strongly believe that the once per week 4x4 session at 90% max heart rate (or as close as I can get) provides the mis far too daunting as it takes a significant physical and mental toll as well as noticeably affecting my weight training the next day. Rather than multiple 4x4s I'll also do a longer but slightly less intense HIIT session each week involving lighter weights, calisthenics and cardio machines at 85% max heart rate because it's still beneficial but not nearly as taxing and I don't dread it like the 4x4. As for the 15x15 VO2 max protocol involving 47(?) rounds described in the video, that sounds like it should be reserved for professional athletes and lunatics only. Anyway, apologies for the essay, thanks for a great video and I wish this channel came to my attention much sooner. Subscribe!
@@keyman6385 Your stupid reply is useless due to the lack of specificity, and you're a hypocrite for writing a poorly constructed sentence that lacks a full stop.
@@AndyPresto75 Whoops, sorry for the abruptness - just trying to get the essential details straight. I wasn't sure what you meant by 'the mis far too daunting', honestly thought it might be a typo? In any case, a definite thumbs up for the elliptical - exactly what I used to lose ~45lbs via related HIIT. Sidenote, I also rely on other modes of exercise to engage more moderate degrees of HIIT.
Otherwise, I'll spare you the specifics as I can tend to ramble on with far too many details which might be educational but taxing. ; )
Love this short 5 min video format. Thanks
Distance runners like myself and sprinters will take issue with the work "sprint" in this video. To most of us, sprinting is nearly all out. 4x 4:00 is a workout that I and my athletes (I'm a coach) often do, but it's rarely done faster than lactate threshold because of the damage that can be done to the aerobic system.
On the flipside, it's common for us to do 4-6 hill sprints (nearly all out), but with full recovery.
Good stuff, this video.
That's a fair point - maybe 'sprint' isn't the correct use - thanks
@@Physionic "sprint" in general is anaerobic effort, while VO2max-developing intervals need to be performed in the VO2max zone, well below "sprinting" intensity/power level.
Agreed.
When I do 4x4's my speed doesnt look or feel like sprinting. It's still very brutal and taxing exercise though, personally I try to do these only at maybe 80-85% HR max, any higher and you feel it for several days, and not in a good way.
I'm curious what do you mean by damage done to the aerobic system?
Thanks and happy new year.
Happy new year!
Happy New Year! I just finished my first cardio session this year so now it's time for first science based protocols video as well! :)
Happy new year :)
I would also like to point out, those 100 year old blue zone Okinawans who are actively gardening and going for walks etc. are not doing the 4X4 protocol or the 47 15 second sprints which makes you think that some of theses studies are somewhat worthless while also knowing yes exercise is important. They are also not jumping on the latest unregulated suppliment trend. The answers to a long healthy life are not in a bottle, not on the track or treadmill nor in the gym doing deadlifts.
Totally agree.
I really love how you described all of this, thank you.
They're not?🤔
And I would like to point out that the idea of blue zones is highly debated for many reasons.
@@salvarunatortuga5396 Sardinia seems to have the highest percentage of centenarians, leading a simple peasant life of working outdoors, gardening, socializing and family - all proven to outweigh however genetics might factor into that - where they prove to be secondary. No doubt the climate and outdoors helps, along with quality of water and so on - not so much about guzzling a litre of olive oil a month as some would lead us to believe. ; )
Zone 2 makes your heart larger by stretching the chambers to hold the most blood. HIIT makes your heart chambers thicker and able to pump more forcefully but if you have not built large chambers and stroke volume with Zone 2 you are basically pumping less blood more forcefully.
Basically Zone 2 maximizes how much blood can fill your heart. HIIT makes your heart pump that blood harder.
Looking good! Thx for the info as always it was great!
Happy new year Nicolas to you and your loved ones!
You can't sprint for 4 minutes!!!!! The longest sprint is 400m and takes olympic athletes 43-50 seconds. How can you maintain that equivalent level of effort as elite athletes for 4 times the duration. That's not sprinting. That's middle distance running which is high intensity but it's an absolute misnomer to call it sprinting.
zip it
I think that doing MICT is better than not doing HIIT; particularly at my older age!
Would love to see more exercise focused study analyses in the future!!
Coming :)
Thanks for the great video.
As a recreational and passionate runner, I agree with the main point proposed here. With a simple caveat: VO2max intervals are indeed great but (1) if you increase your overall weekly volume at easy / moderate intensity, you will be able to train more at VO2max intensity (2) three sessions per week of VO2max intervals per week are not sustainable for the vast majority of people over the long term. Injury risk also increases quite a lot, if we talk about running.
Basically: almost every endurance athlete with some interest in training physiology knows that a sensible blend between easy , moderate and hard effort is required to improve overlay performance and VO2max as well . 4-8 minutes intervals alone , repeated several times per week , are not an option, in my understanding
Agreed
The 15x15 protocol is strange. Heart rate is not an instant responder. If you are jogging at 70% HR, and you then do an all out for 15 seconds, you don't get to spend a lot of seconds at 90+.% Reversely, if you are at 90+ %, and you jog at any tempo, you don't get to spend a lot of seconds at 70%. Dropping your heart rate by 20% within 15 seconds after doing it 40+ times ... good luck finding people with that level of heart rate recovery. I don't see how this protocol is possible to execute.
On the other hand, if you base this on the 220-age junk, I might personally be able to do something similar. According to this "rule", which to my best knowledge is very unscientific, I should have a max HR of 171, when I clocked 202 at the end of a 30 minute run (Garmin HR Pro Plus chest strap). My average heart rate for the 30 minutes was 178 = 7 bpm above the "rule".
If the scientists behind the study just "calculated" the participants' max HR with the "rule", I call bullshit on their "science".
@Dandelion-32 I vaguely recall reading the 220 method was not based on any solid scientific study , it just hit the rough ball park
Good thoughts. Anecdotal experience, if I go for 10 seconds all out on a Rogue Echo bike with fifty seconds rest for repeats, I quickly end up with a heart rate which does not go below 60% of max. So, maybe I am training across a few modalities. Or, my endurance sucks. The S&C trainer from Minnesota State (Dietz), says he doesn’t make his linemen run to train endurance. Rather, he has them go back and forth for one rep at 50% of max on the squat and bench. There is more than one way to skin the cat.
The 4x4 one also seems strange to me. 4 minutes of 90-95%? I thought if you could go longer than 20 seconds you’re not actually doing your maximum.
15 x 15 sounds like any team sports: ice hockey, football, etc.
Excuse me, how many times are we sprinting? 47 times…47?! Good gravy…did they have a personal vendetta against the test subjects 😳?!
My favourite is 3x13x30/15 seconds: 3 blocks of 13 intervals 30 seconds HIGH, 15 seconds LOW, 39 intervals in total with 2 minutes rest (at LOW intensity) between the 13-intervals blocks. It's very tough indeed and after a long break I can't even perform such workout properly.
@ and I thought my Tabata workout of 8x20sec at 170% VO2max was rough 😖.
Very interesting stuff, thanks for covering these sorts of topics. Consider me a voice in the crowd asking for a potential video on the differences between aerobic and anaerobic respiration and their effects on performance in cardio exercise.
Hey Nick, you look very healthy, whats your vo2max?
It would be interesting to see someone study the effects of methylene blue on VO2 short term and long-term use with HIIT. We already know its capable of allowing full cellular energy production even when lacking oxygen, where normal cellular energy production is at its lowest state in an absence of oxygen.
I was in high school cross country running and track in the mid-70s And we were aware of high intensity intermittent training then. It was called the European method for some reason. I'm surprised that this is surprising on New Year's Day 2025!
I wish it was highlighted that regular exercise, even low intensity, long duration, will still improve VO2 max…just not quite as much as pure HIIT training. This is important because some people see these data and think that the only way to get results is by doing high intensity, but they may not find that type of exercise to be very achievable regularly.
Many have been unaware that VO2max has relevance to health, and not only matters of sport, such as race time. It shows the importance of videos like these to raise awareness.
I watched 1000 vo2max vids and I still dont know whats more important.
1) Holding a high poweroutput for as long as possible
2) Or having HR > 90% for as long as possible
If 1) is the answer, I would go with Intervals with a fixed poweroutput. Something between 15sec-5min.
If 2) is the answer, I would sprint until my HR reached its goal and keep it there with an as low as possible power. (Slightly above critical power.)
Depends on your objectives, in case you've seen related naysayers who argue that VO2 max is overrated?
@@keyman6385 My objective is to get faster at cycling.
I know vo2max is not everything, but it's one of many limiting factors.
Losing weight can radically increase relative VO2 max with just low- to moderate-intensity exercise without increasing absolute VO2 max. For most people this can constitute huge chunk of improvement. A regular man with losing 15 kg from 85 kg to 70 kg can push VO2 max from pretty bad 45 ml/kg/min to rather impressive 54 ml/kg/min (which is excellent), or more. Interval training is so mentally-taxing that most untrained individuals won't be able to perform these protocols without years of training under the belt. If anything, this is useful for performance athletes who are very well-familiar with and mentally prepared to extreme exertion levels, and who seek more performance while LSD or zone 2 training do not create sufficient training stress to push adaptations further.
I think you can only determine that short intervals by Power (Watts) or %FTP.
Then you run at a 130% of FTP for 15 sec and another 15 sec at 75% of FTP and your HR will only slightly oscillate nearby 90%HRmax.
I don't know if there is a different metabolism engaged than at a steady effort like 4min, but the 15sec pause prevents you from collapsing after few minutes😅.
Another benefit is that you are always accelerating again, so you get your legs trained harder than with a 4min interval. Its another muscle recruitement.
Do not try to add HIIT unless you have a good base. Build your base first with Zone 2. Add HIIT into your training.
It's like a guy going to the gym and trying to deadlift 500lbs when he can barely get off the couch
Meh... depends on how you do HIIT. The big roadblock between a beginner and HIIT is weak bones and ligaments, as in risk of injury, which you can absolutely first build up with Z2. But you can also incorporate HIIT right away if it's low impact, like swimming or cycling.
95% is to high as many people have noted. But the point form the study still stands. In peak physical condition you should be able to do 90% of max during Vo2 max training but it really depends on the total interval time and how well you warmup.
Happy New Year !
Oh, and good luck to all the three year olds, who must train to 206 bpm.
Happy new year!
Trying to monitor heart rates and effort during the 15x15 sounds like it would be difficult. I'm yet to try but I think the 4x4 would be more manageable. Great video!
Loving the nice haircut, looking sharp
I guess the researchers couldn't test legitimate wind sprints because most treadmills I have seen in the US top out around 12 mph. But to maximize your capacity to use oxygen, it would make sense to run your fastest. So that would mean run about 100m (a quarter of the way around a track), and walk the rest of the way around until you're recovered enough to go hard again. And repeat a few times. Or you could just run hard on a road for about 15 seconds, and walk a few minutes. It's also a surprisingly good way to train your hip flexors -- the top lump on your quads and your lower abs. No sit ups required!
Compare VO2 improvement compared to mental energy expenditure or burnout risks
How to set up a treadmill to make this work? Any suggestions ?
Vo2 max of 67 here. I'm 47 years old, and all I do is Olympic Weightlifting 5 days a week and 2 days of very light zone 2 for 20 minutes 2 times a week.😊
@custardtart1312 I'll take it!
@custardtart1312 🤣
Whatever makes you happy.
@spidos1000 I was trying to point out that you don't necessarily have to do hiit or a Norwegian protocol to improve your vo2 max. That's all! I like the oly lifts because they result in very functional training responses, especially those that decrease with age. They recruit fast twitch fibers, increase strength, increase flexibility, increase proprioception, increase bone density, increase muscle mass, increase Vo2 max. Hell, at 47, I still have a 36" vertical jump. So yeah, it makes me feel like a kid, so I'm happy with that! Be easy brother!
@@MMPRECISIONPAINTING Resistance training helps regulate hormones that increase nitric oxide, "contributing to improved blood flow and vascular health "
So just got back from the gym. 58 yo fit male. After 5 rounds of 15/15, HR was above 150 consistantly (162 max according to nicks simple formula) even during rest periods, then I had to extend the rest period from 15 to 30 to 45 seconds to prevent HR from going higher and to prevent passing out. I was able to go 20 minutes. Lost track of the rounds, I know it wasnt 47. Pretty difficult. Not sure I could even do the 4X4 routine. Dont see how I could "sprint" or maintain 150 BPM for 4 minutes. Maybe with a slow progression of consistant training. Would have dial back hard resistance training 3X week.
Is increasing VO2 max causal for health and longevity, or is it a marker? And do activities specifically designed to increase it cause those benefits, or are other activities that tangentially increase it more beneficial? I'm most interested in which lifestyle factors will cause me to be healthier and live longer, whether or not they increase markers like VO2 max, strength, etc...
Exactly
I do cardio everyday (jump rope or running, and sprinting one every 5 days), but I continue to be critical of V02 max as a proxy measurement for extended longevity beyond a paltry few years. If V02 max is the key to longevity, then how come : (1) 4 minute milers and olympic marathoners tend to only live to the average age of 77, (2) brisk walkers tend to live to the age of 86, (3) Olympic Golfers have the same lifespan as Olympic Cyclists. The Elite Cardio athletes are not doing so well in lifespan measurements compared to walkers.
Sources:
1. 4 minute milers - BMJ
2. Olympic Marathoners - BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil
3. Brisk Walkers - 2019 Mayo Clinic Proceedings / UK Biobank Data
The way others have addressed this data in the past is that they presume / argue that the Elite athletes must have gotten fat and out of shape in their elderly years and that's why the stats are skewed like that. In essence, others have' presumed that the Elites lost their V02 max levels as they got older out of laziness. I don't buy that argument. First, the upper echelon of the Elites have intrinsically naturally high VO2 levels, even without training. Second, Elite Athletes don't tend to be lazy and they tend to have a lot of discipline. I doubt that most Elites go from a history of high level fitness to sitting on the couch most of the time.
Those are two brutal examples.
I don’t see many older folks being able to work on their VO2max using those two examples.
Agreed. See pinned comment.
The idea Is about intensity, not performance. Sometimes walking will do.
I am doing the “sprints” on the Rogue Echo bike. It is like the old Schwin Aerodynes, but built like a tank.
Nick could you please give me a comment on my workout schedule? I'am 61 years old and trained for 6 years with weights and cardio in the gym and open air 3-4 times a week. For 8 weeks, I started to train like this: Once a week I do a Norwegian 4x4 like you described. I do this in the gym with a treadmill and choose a speed based on the speed men of 60 run with a Cooper test. So I started at 11,6 km/hr for 4 times for 4 minutes. I could do this, so every week I added 0,1 km/hr. At 12 km/hr I hit a brick wall that I am not able to cross (I nearly complete the last run). 12 km/hr on the Cooper test is excellent for age 55, but that is continuing for 12 minutes and complete that. The only difference is that in the 3 minutes between the HIIT 4 minutes run I walk so slow that my heatbeat slows down from max 160 to 100. That is not 70% capacity but just a normal walk. And the last break, I need an extra minute to slow down my heart rate for the last run. I feel like a complete squashed orange, without any juice left, but after 5 minutes I can complete my strength training exercises and after half an hour I can even do a zone 2 cardio training. The rest of the week I do only as much zone 2 training (heartbeat at max 110) on cross trainer, treadmill, rower and cycle. You said in your video that in the study people did the Norwegian 4x4 three times a week? Do you need so much HIIT training to improve your VO2MAX? After my Norwegian 4x4 I need days to build up for a new one. In the meantime I eat and sleep as best as possible, and yes I eat enough omega-3 from fish, protein and creatine every day. So,what would be your advice in my case if I want to gradually improve my VO2MAX, based on your knowledge and studies? Thanks!
Echoing many others: HIIT is best done when peaking. Moderate, steady-state is the foundation. Structuring your training without both is like making a sandwich without the bread and the filling. If you are a long distance or a middle distance runner, 4 x 4, is intuitively the best protocol. Less chance of burnout and injury. Tabata done with fidelity can be hell. 95% of max heart rate is extreme. The long term fatigue from and potential risks of HIIT should not be underestimated. I think many American athletes experienced this firsthand in the 20th Century when coaches were obsessed with interval training. CrossFit athletes who experience rabdo are also a stark warning. Yes, you can literally kill yourself with too much exercise. Thanks for bringing up the research, though.
I've done a lot of running in my life and stillrun and sprint regularly at 70. I cannot believe that even a professional athlete can do 47 (!) 110m (approx.) almost full-out sprints interspersed with "rests" of 47 15-second jogs.
Happy New Year, Nickie!!! 🎈🎆
Happy new year :)
Peter Attia MD doscusses VO2 max also in detail
Great video! Could you maybe weigh the benefits of HIIT and zone 2 and how to properly implement the 2 types of training in one’s routine? It seems to me downright impossible to do 3 or even 2 HIIT workouts at such intensity, plus enough zone 2 in order to develop aerobic capacity together with resistance training, there’s just no room for recovery there.
It's more like 80-85 % for 4 minutes you cant run 95 % for 4 minutes .
Where did you come up with this limitation? I train at 90-95% my max heart rate for 3-5min intervals every week...
4 min 95% HR is insane 😂
It's doable but it absolutely fucking sucks, takes a fair bit of willpower. The good in the bad is that it's based on heart rate, not power/pace so it will take less and less power to stay up there in the 90-95 as those 4 min goes on. 1-2 min also sort of falls away as it will take some time to get up to the 90-95%.
@@ruimarques1408 This is a pretty normal Vo2 workout for cyclists. Check my Strava
@@spieo ok bro
ohhh if only it was that simple, I found that my vo2 is higher when Im doing a lot of running, as most vo2 tests are done during running, I guess its inevitable the better you are at running the better your vo2 max will be... and running has many mechanical aspects to it....
As you point to the side of the frame, "Check out the video right here." Nothing shows. It's been that way for most of your videos here on YT. 🙄 Again, another great video. Saving up to join Physionics. 🙂
I know - nothing I can do. Interestingly, in my analytics I can see people clicking onto the next video, so it's a minority of people who are affected.
Awesome - I'm looking forward to it.
Lol ex semi pro sprinter here and current anaesthesiologist/intensivist. Let me tell you all right now. It is literally impossible for even oly pic sprinters to do 95% of max sprints for 15secs with ten minutes rest 10 times. There's no way any human can do 95% 15secs rest 47times lol. Literally impossible. It is nowhere near 95% olympic athletes that are finalists do 95% in their semi finals and then have to try to recover over four hours before the finals. If you do a 100% 15 second sprint you'd be unable to move possibly throwing up and wiped out for ten minutes. This protocol is nonsense. The intensity most people think is 90% from my experience training sprinters is usually 65ish.
Not sure what to say, those are directly from the studies and supervised - keep in mind that HRmax calculator underestimates true HRmax, too.
Yes he used the word sprinting but also clarified a HR metric too, and intervals at 90-95% Max HR are perfectly feasible.
Basically get your heart rate up to 90%. From there sprint 15 s and jog 15 s for 47 times. Should take you around 14 mins. What you are doing is stimulating the most oxygen consumption during exercise. Basically you are training between zone 3 and zone 5 for 14 mins. It's not really a sprint. It's more like surge and float
The word "sprint" was used loosely here. Similarly, there's no way a person can "sprint" for 4 minutes straight, but the percentage of HR max tells the real intensity.
Sprint is something that you can do for 10-20seconds, never saw someone who can sprint for more than 30 seconds...
At 70 years of age I did 30 seconds sprint with 2:1/2 minutes walk recover for five times total fifteen minutes.
You are an elite athlete if you can do 15 second sprints with 15 seconds of rest 47 times, im in excellent health and can go nowhere near this on the bike at least. If you try this your heart rate and breathing will be put of control for the whole time.
Interesting side note (to me): I’m 53, can run up mountains at a pace of less than 20 minutes per 1000 feet of elevation, holding a heartrate in the 180s for a good 2 hours, while eating chewy protein bars… not get out of breath… and my Apple Watch tells me my VO2 sucks and I’m out of shape 🤷♂️
Not the right tool for the job..."Unfortunately, VO2 max cannot be measured accurately without the face mask that measures the level of oxygen you intake. The smartwatch's only information is your heart rate and your pace."
I really appreciate your efforts! A bit off-topic, but I wanted to ask: I have a SafePal wallet with USDT, and I have the seed phrase. (alarm fetch churn bridge exercise tape speak race clerk couch crater letter). What's the best way to send them to Binance?
15 x 15 is tough. sprinting 47x per session. 15 secs each
It is quite difficult. Seriously.
For 47 times ? Holy moly. I can see myself doing this for max 15 times but after that, I would be jogging and jogging.
@@helios4425 good for you - after 15 times I would be in a near-death experience ;)
I’d be interested in knowing the optimal frequency per week to use a protocol like this since it is obviously very intensive.
Peter Attia recommends a different 4x4, which you probably know: for each 4-min. Interval, increase speed minute-by-minute from low to max intensity.
Evidence?
I've not heard him say that, I think he meant 4 mins at a max effort
4x4 min (or 5x5 min) is classical interval training, but it's pretty much constant effort interval followed by equal duration recovery interval, then repeat. I think Attia is preaching this typical 4x4 min.
Averaging various methods like the 220-age, Kavonen, Tanaka methods, my theoretical max heart rate is way too high. I go into afib on days that I'm at 90% of it. It's fascinating stuff. Thanks.
While VO2 max correlates to longevity, is there any research confirming that improving VO2 max above say the 75th percentile CAUSES improved longevity or is it possible simply that people who have the genetics to get to the 90th percentile are physically more robust, making achieving a very high VO2 max just a sign, and possibly not even improving longevity? Plausibly the work to get there could even negatively impact longevity? I am wondering if it could just be a sign that someone can tolerate physical stress needed to reach that level.
Anyway, I've seen research that the limiting factor on getting to 90%+ is increased lung capillary density and all other factors will just improve enough to keep up with that.
Not as far as I know. On the contrary, a recent Mendelian study found no causal link between vo2 max and longevity. I think it's safe to say that improving your cardiorespiratoy fitness has beneficial and healthy effects on your body that will translate to lower mortality risk, as seen in many controlled studies implementing physical activity. However, the effect on lower mortality risk is usually around 40-50 percent comparing the highest to lowest quantile exercise groups after adjusting for other factors, which is why I think a lot of people were sceptical about the claim that having an elite vo2max would lower your mortality risks by something like 500 percent. I think that's clearly a healthy user bias not properly adjusted for in the data.
Again, there is some very interesting research on cardiorespiratory fitness and vo2max and no doubt that it helps, not to mention that it's a proxy for being in great health if you manage to get good numbers because of all the factors that goes into it. But the jury is still out on exactly how much vo2max matters for longevity.
@TC-by3il I can think of many women in the family who have reached 80 plus and done no high intensity or any fitness whats do over . They did keep themselves busy mind, and always doing things , so plenty of z1 activity and some z 2
@@Foxtrottangoabc My aunt died at 98 (oldest, by far, in her family) without doing any exercise as an adult. No, she did not live in a blue zone, and her two brothers didn't get within a decade of her age. In fact, she didn't even do much zone 1-2 activity. Her husband was the gardener. He died in his mid-'80s of kidney failure and cancer.
Yeah. I was wondering the same thing. Its like saying people who caugh more are more likely to die and then you are training yourself not to caugh to improve your chances of not dying
Physionic is jacked yo
What is active rest or what it looks like in the HIIT protocol? Also Happy New Year
That's where you keep moving during recovery - similar to how they used to tell us to 'walk it off' after a race in gym class. Probably helps recovery but some emphasize minimizing recovery which is more stressful but forces upregulation of autonomic response & adaptation's with are intended to facilitate maximizing VO2 max.
I've been trying to figure out if the intermittent nature of activity matters - whether intervals vs continuous has an effect. At the high end the intensity has to be intermittent, so it would be studies of low intensity efforts that would sort this out. There is a protocol of interval walking formulated in Japan. It is possible that intervals make a difference, it would be interesting to see lots more studies of this.
More about picking the right exercise for your age, health and ability to engage. Lower intensity and longer walks, with the faster paced intervals, is of course very sensible for those not suited for HIIT which might even be contradictory.
Great day to start VO2 maxxing.
Looking Swole Nic!
I'm surprised that Tabata intervals or something similar weren't used. The HIIT used in that study have very long recovery periods.
I gather there's some benefits to minimizing recovery periods, in order to trigger the autonomic system to adapt more strongly to the training? That's assuming you do it properly/gradually, so as not to wreck yourself in the process, by overstressing your lungs which can cause them to shutdown vs. your body saying it needs more oxygen. It's why nutrition and potentially supplementation, is so important as well vs. garbage-in = garbage-out.
The optimal combination is walking, running, sprints, strength training
I wonder how a synthetic method such as HBOT (HyperBaric Oxygen Therapy) sessions twice or 3 times a week might help or hinder this particular metric. The reason I bring it up, is that besides the mentioned protocols being hard to follow, there are a significant amount of people who may not be starting from the best shape or ability, and as such, I find interesting the idea that supplementing any regimen with easier to follow, albeit less organic procedures may potentially net a benefit.
Haha i just checked. Last interval i did were 8x 30sec full power hill sprints (steep incline). That got me into zone 4 (of 5). I wanna see people doing that 47x. That would be funny to watch when your legs are done after 10-15x.
Well done with that running joke!👏👏👏👏
Good one, my recent blood work showed co2 in blood just a touch higher than "normal range", any way to fix that. I do gym daily 2+ hr and hiit once a week (cycle). 77yo Froggy Happy New Year.
@Physionic Hi thanks! May I ask what if those HIIT protocols are compared with IHHT (Interval Hypercapnic Hypoxic Training)? How does IHHT compares for VO2 Max? Thanks!
I want to improve my VO2 because I have neuropathy in multiple areas of my body. I do some weight training and walk daily but was wanting to increase Autophagy beyond the normal range I'm in currently doing periodic OMAD and on occasion a 2-3 day fast.
Not sure if it’s good or bad. But I can’t seem to exercise in zone 2. I’m more “comfortable” running 30 min in zone 4- but ease up if I hit red zone. 51yrs old hr around 145-159. During my daily 5 k. Always just under 30 min. Vo2 max went from 30ish to 37 in 11months 4-5 times per week…. With the odd 10 k thrown in for good measure
Is there an easy way to measure VO2 Max?
I have Long Covid ... HIIT just triggers a flare (and then I am sick and possible bedbound for days or even weeks).
Do you have any recommendations?
I couldn't persuade you to do something on LC (be careful ... it's a "rabbit hole"). A lot of people would be interested to hear your thoughts.
Definitely fix that before you do anything strenuous, especially with a related compromise. Ideally you've done all the research you can regarding LC and related impacts, potentially (also) where certain vaccines have been flagged due to some people's negative reaction to them?
At age 75 I run flat out hard for 15 seconds and rest until breathe is normal. Repeat maybe 4 times.
Relaxing about the details, It's relative; i.e; run hard and then rest until breathe is normal. Repeat.
I like doing 4x 30s max sprint with 4 min recovery.
Hey Nic, I'm 58 and max heart rate is 162. I do 35 mins on a treadmill 5 days per week. I start walking for 3 mins and HR gets to 110 bpm or so, then I increase the incline for about 5 mins so HR gets to around 150 bpm. Been doing this for a year now. How can I test to see if V02 Max is getting better?
You're killing it. Great work, especially since you're hitting that 90% threshold - kudos to you. There are a number of VO2 tests you can use to test your improvement over time - I have three I cover step by step for the Insiders, but in short - you can use something like a Cooper test, or if you want to test it directly, you'll need to go to an exercise physiology lab.
@@Physionic Thank you, sir!
@@Physionic And the interesting thing is I have ASCVD. CAC score of 600 at age 57. Just trying to survive if you know what I mean.
Could you post your most recent run event? maybe even link a strava if you have it. thanks!
In which "Zone" should I do 4x4min protocol? Above lactate threshold (Zone 5) or at lactate threshold (in Zone 4)?
Above, close to VO2 max.
You can do a simple test, after warming up for 15 minutes and doing some drills you run for 6 minutes as fast as you can with a sustained pace. A slight decrease or increase in pace is allowed but try to be as consistent as you can.
This is your VO2 max pace, let’s imagine is 4 min/ km.
Then your intervals can be done at roughly 5% slower, let’s get 4’12’’ at a good pace.
If you start on the protocol, is better to begin at the low boundary, that’s it 10% more time per kilometer than your VO2 max speed. In the example will be 4’24’’ / km.
Heart rate should be also at this rates, perhaps slightly higher, but is not very trustable in 4 minutes.
Also I advice you to begin with just 2x4, then aim to 3x4.
4x4 is too much for an amateur runner, some elite couches advice 8 min per week at VO2 max in beginners, 12 in intermediate runners and only 16 min/week in advanced.
This sounds a lot like standard resistance training. Like periods of high intensity followed by periods of "rest". So could you tell me how they compare as a way to improve VO2?