As a general proposition “VO2 Max” ought not to play a particular role in anyone’s happiness. But it does for me.
Establishing a VO2 Max has been on my list of things to do for a couple of weeks. It’s not complicated: row 2000m as fast as you can and plug in the numbers. There are other ways to establish a VO2 Max; for professionals a lab test would be the best bet. But for my purposes a simple approximation would do just fine.
The idea behind getting a VO2 Max established is to measure progress. It’s a straightforward way to measure cardiovascular fitness. So keep it simple, right? Just get on a rower and go for it. Which I did. But leading up to it — for a couple of days — I was worried. As in suffering angst. As in having an attachment to an outcome and being unhappy about something that had not even occurred.
Anyway I set aside some time today and did the row. I assumed I would come in above eight minutes, but I wanted to come in as close to eight as possible. Why? Because I had plugged numbers into the calculator and had a pre-conceived notion of where I wanted to be. Not very indicative of Dharma-mind. Nope.
But I did the row and I came in at 8:47, which I was happy with. That calculates out to be 43.67 for someone my size and level of training. For my age, it’s considered excellent. The VO2 max for the average male on a college track team is 48-53. I happen to think I’ve got a lot of upside in me, so I’m expecting to get a little closer to high forties.
I am however concerned about the emotional attachment to the outcome. Lots of inner work yet to be done.
Nice post scott. There is certainly some wisdom to be taken from this.
Blake: thanks! Hope your summer went well. Cheers, SC
Thanks for creating a site where we can coprmae ourselves to others our age. I have been recovering from a knee injury, this was the first wallball/burpees and deadlifts I have done in about 2 months. So far knee feels pretty good! It took me 8:40 to complete, was really concentrating on my form with the wallballs and deadlifts. DL weight was 115 and 14# wallball. Would like to repeat in a month or so using 135 and see where I am at. Again thanks, I am really enjoying reading everyone’s posts and the enthusiasm for crossfit!