VO₂ Testing: The Healthspan Metric Every Mountain Dweller and Athlete Should Know

Let’s get a few of the major questions out of the way right off the bat:

What is VO₂?

• VO₂ is the volume of oxygen consumption. VO₂ max = your aerobic engine size. Bigger engine, bigger buffer for stress, sport, and life.

Why is VO₂ important?

• Higher VO₂ max = longer, healthier life, independent of other risk factors. The least-fit group has ~4× higher mortality risk than the fittest peers.  

What does a VO₂ test provide you with?

• A number that is comparable to others within your age bracket that has normative powers, like testing your cholesterol or blood cell count for example. 

• A lab VO₂ test turns guesswork/estimated zones for heart rate & power by your device (Garmin, Suunto, Strava, Zwift, TrainingPeaks) into true and individual guidelines of your activity exertions, such are guiding your Zone 2 base work or suggesting a need to raise your overall volume.

• Identifying your exercise heart rate zones also identifies what kind of nutrients you use for fuel during different intensities so you know how to better fuel or how to best lose or gain weight depending on your goals.

Who benefits?

• Anyone seeking health resilience, longevity, or sport performance. Endurance athletes, skiers, riders, runners, and the entire population would benefit.

What VO₂ Max Actually Measures

VO₂ max is the maximum rate at which your body can take in, transport, and use oxygen during hard exercise. Think of it as the peak horsepower of your aerobic system: the integrated performance of lungs, heart, blood vessels, and mitochondria under maximal demand. In clinical and performance settings alike, VO₂ max is the gold-standard marker of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF).  

Why Peter Attia, MD cares (and why you should, too)

Attia popularizes VO₂ max as a core “healthspan” vital sign, not just a race-day stat. The bigger your aerobic engine, the more reserve you have for daily life stressors (stairs, illness, altitude, parenting, adventures). This reserve is what helps you stay independent and durable as decades pass.

The Longevity Case: Fitness as a Risk Modifier

Three heavyweight data points:

1. A peer-reviewed synthesis concludes: VO₂ max/CRF is a strong, independent predictor of all-cause and disease-specific mortality. 

Translation: higher fitness predicts longer life even after adjusting for other risks.  

2. Copenhagen Male Study (46-year follow-up): Among 5,107 men tested in midlife, each +1 mL·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹ of estimated VO₂ max was linked to ~45 extra days of life; those with “above-normal” fitness lived ~5 years longer than the least fit.  

3. JACC 2022 (750,302 U.S. veterans): The association between fitness and survival was inverse, graded, and independent across age, sex, and race. The least fit (bottom 20%) had a ~4× higher mortality risk than the extremely fit—with no harm signal at very high fitness levels.  

Bottom line: VO₂ max is not just a performance vanity metric; it’s a modifiable lever that moves hard clinical endpoints: longevity and resilience.  

What You Get From a VO₂ Test at Summit Sports Lab

• Breath-by-breath gas analysis with a calibrated mask while you complete a graded protocol on a bike or treadmill.

• Objective VO₂ max (mL·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹) and ventilatory thresholds (VT1/VT2), which map directly to your endurance “gears.”

• Personal training zones for heart rate and power: exported to Garmin, Suunto, Strava, Zwift, and TrainingPeaks, so your day-to-day training precision actually matches your physiology.

• (Add-on) Action plan: We can translate the numbers into a practical 8–12 week block tailored to your sport (cycling, running, ski touring, XC, row, etc.).

Pro tip for Summit County: At altitude, Rate of perceived excursion (RPE) can lie. Your physiology won’t. Testing anchors your training to what your heart, lungs, and muscles are actually doing up here, so you stop “gray-zoning” and start adapting.

How to Use Your Number (and the whole curve)

1) Raise the floor with Zone 2 Exercise

• Goal: Build mitochondrial density and fat-oxidation efficiency so you can do more work below threshold with less metabolic stress.

• Prescription: Frequent, steady Zone 2 sessions (from your test’s VT1/Zone 2 HR or power). Think 2–4+ hours per week, spread over several walks/rides/runs or a few longer sessions.

• Why it matters: A stronger floor lets you recover faster between hard days and makes your VO₂ max more usable (you spend more of life’s demands well below your redline).

2) Lift the ceiling with VO₂-oriented intervals

• Goal: Increase stroke volume, capillary density, and aerobic enzyme activity to push VO₂ max upward.

• Prescription: 1–2 sessions/week of well-spaced hard work near your VO₂ max zone (shorter repeats with equal or slightly longer recoveries).

• Why it matters: If Zone 2 is durable base-building, these intervals are the turbo that expands your maximum capacity.

• Caution: Dose the hard stuff. High-quality intervals are great but too much will set you back or cause injury. Your plan will scale to recovery, age, and life stress.

Evidence context: Across populations, higher CRF links to lower mortality in a dose-response fashion; improving from “low” to “moderate” fitness confers big risk reductions, then benefits continue to accrue into high/elite ranges.

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What the Session Looks Like

1. Quick health screen, goal consideration and physical warm-up.

2. Graded protocol on bike or treadmill while we measure breath-by-breath gases.

3. Cool-down and immediate debrief of your VO₂ max, thresholds, and zones.

4. Take-home plan: sport-specific guidance for Zone 2 and interval days, weekly structure, and recovery anchors.

What to bring: well-fitting shoes, your preferred bike/cleats (if cycling), HR strap if you use one, exercise clothes and hydration.

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Interpreting Your Results

• VO₂ max (engine size): We’ll show where you sit relative to age/sex norms and your sport demands.  

• VT1 / VT2 (gears): These ventilatory breakpoints define the precise Zone 2 boundary and your “redline”—critical for structuring endurance and interval days.

• Zones you’ll actually use: We’ll provide HR and power targets you can load into your devices and training platform the same day.

Longevity, in Practice

Keep your VO₂ max as high as possible for as long as possible. The research shows that improving fitness in midlife changes long-term outcomes and the gains persist for decades. Even small, sustained improvements compound into meaningful differences in survival and independence.  

And across age, sex, and race, the fitter you are, the lower your risk, with no evidence of harm at the high end of CRF.  

Ready to test?

If you’re living or training in Summit County’s thin air, or you want your workouts to do exactly what you think they’re doing, VO₂ testing is the highest-leverage hour you can spend. You’ll leave with clarity, confidence, and a plan.

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References

Strasser B, Burtscher M. Survival of the fittest: VO₂max, a key predictor of longevity? Front Biosci (Landmark Ed). 2018;23(8):1505-1516.  

Clausen JSR, et al. Midlife Cardiorespiratory Fitness and the Long-Term Risk of Mortality: 46 Years of Follow-Up. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2018;72(9):987-995. 

Kokkinos P, et al. Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Mortality Risk Across the Spectra of Age, Race, and Sex. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2022;80(6):598-609.