The Smartest Way To Improve Your VO2 Max (Hit 80+)

Key wellness + performance strategies for improving VO2 max (and staying healthy)

Level 1 (basic): Fix physiological limits + recovery + fuel

Correct deficiencies that limit oxygen delivery

• Get bloodwork for: iron, vitamin B12, vitamin B9 (folate)
• If deficient, optimize through diet:
  • Iron: red meat, spinach
  • B12: eggs, salmon
  • B9: lentils, asparagus
• Supplement only if labs show you’re low:
  • Iron supplements: only add if needed; prefer heme iron
  • Folate: use methylfolate (more bioavailable than folic acid)

Active recovery as a non-negotiable

• Walk after eating (example: ~10 minutes)
• Keep moving all day:
  • frequent short walks/biking
  • aim for high daily steps (example: ~20,000/day)
• Goal: improve circulation and recovery between hard sessions

Pre / during / post-workout nutrition (timed fueling)

• Easy/medium days: little extra needed; fasted training is OK on easy days
• Medium days: add electrolytes (especially sodium)
• Pre-workout (easy/medium):
  • if hungry: choose fast-digesting carbs
  • avoid heavy fiber/fat
• Hard days (intervals/threshold/long runs):
  • Pre-workout: 30–60 g fast-digesting carbs
  • During: about 30 g carbs/hour
  • Post-workout: can include higher fiber/fat later, but avoid those close to races/hard workouts (especially early)

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Level 2: Choose the right “vehicle” + session mix

Pick a training modality that lets many muscles work together

• Running: convenient + high cardiovascular stimulus, but highest injury risk
  • use properly fitted shoes
• Cycling: lower impact, lower injury risk
  • limitation: legs may fatigue before heart (good for zone 2)
• Swimming: very low impact, but technique-dependent; chlorine may irritate airways
• Rowing (underrated):
  • engages lots of muscle mass simultaneously
  • high VO2 response
  • low injury risk (if available)

Don’t just do one thing—match vehicle to effort

• Zone 2 easy days: anything enjoyable that keeps HR in range
• Hard days: choose modalities where the heart can reach the ceiling before muscles give out

Use core session types (building blocks for VO2 work)

• Easy/Zone 2 run (conversational)
• Strides: 20-second fast bursts after easy runs (build fast-twitch without big fatigue)
• Intervals: hard repeats with full/limited recovery (various distances)
• Tempo/Threshold:
  • Tempo: sustained hard near goal marathon pace (20–40 min)
  • Threshold: fastest sustainable ~1 hour; trains lactate clearing/breakpoint
• Sprints: 20–30 seconds at ~100% effort (top-end neuromuscular power)
• Long runs: extended zone 2 or extended hard (depends on the week)

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Level 2–3 planning: Progression based on where you plateau (and how you recover)

Beginner / maintenance (3 days/week)

• Day 1 & 3: 30–40 min easy zone 2
• Day 6: 45–60 min long effort run
• Alternate long run emphasis:
  • Week 1: zone 2
  • Week 2: harder (~zone 3), then repeat every 2 weeks

Intermediate (80% easy / 20% hard; 4–5 sessions/week)

• Day 1: zone 2 + strides
  • skip strides if sore, but keep zone 2
• Day 3: intervals OR a 20–30 min tempo/“hard-hour” sustained effort
• Day 5: rotating interval formats (e.g., 400s → 800s → 1-mile repeats across weeks)
• Day 6: long run alternating easy vs hard (60–90 min)
• Day 7: rest

Avoid full adaptation too early

• Mix interval formats and effort types across weeks so your body doesn’t “get used to” one stimulus

Advanced optimization: use VO2 max test results to identify your limiter

• VO2 testing breaks fitness into:
  • Aerobic power (heart’s engine size)
  • Anaerobic battery (can you sustain faster-than-aerobic efforts?)
  • Processing power (top-end speed headroom; “new phone vs old phone” analogy)
• Adjust percentages around your bottleneck, e.g.:
  • Anaerobic battery limiter (example: Vinton): ~60% easy / 30% anaerobic / 10% aerobic power
  • Aerobic power limiter: stay closer to 80% zone 2 / 20% hard
  • Processing power limiter: ~75% aerobic / 15% anaerobic / 10% sprint
• Personalization matters: paces and targets update after retesting

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Level 4: Injury-proof the system so volume can compound

Rule 1: Keep easy days truly easy

• Zone 2 must be easy enough to recover; hard days require real effort

Rule 2: Fix cadence to reduce overstriding

• Overstriding can increase impact; aim for higher cadence / shorter steps

Rule 3: Warm-ups + correct stretching timing

• Before: dynamic warm-up under ~10 minutes (leg swings, hip circles, lunges, A-skips, then short strides)
• After: static stretching holds 30–60 seconds, focused on hips, hamstrings, calves, glutes

Rule 4: Shoe replacement + rotation

• Replace shoes every 300–500 miles
• Rotate two similar shoes
• Avoid “super shoes” if you’re not fast enough yet (short lifespan; benefits require speed)
• Prefer running surfaces with better absorption:
  • grass > concrete (grass/turf/track/gravel recommended)

Rule 5: Sleep is the biggest recovery lever

• Targets:
  • Long run days: minimum 8 hours
  • Training days: 7.5 hours
  • Regular days: 7 hours
• Sleep at the same time nightly

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Training volume (final “simpler than you think” driver of extreme VO2)

High weekly volume often drives VO2 max in the 80s–90s

• Examples cited: cross-country skiers average ~20 hours/week
• Vinton trains ~20–25 hours/week for 3 years

Don’t optimize VO2 max at all costs (health goals are multi-variable)

• Reframe health as a multi-variable problem
• Chasing very high VO2 max can harm:
  • muscle mass, recovery, hormones, and other health markers

Practical season/cycle example

• Use 90-day cycles:
  • Winter: build muscle mass
  • Spring: boost VO2 max
  • Summer: build strength
  • Fall: improve HRV + stress resilience
• Even during VO2 focus, limit cardio volume (example given):
  • ≤ ~7 hours cardio/week

Follow a ceiling + gradual progression rule

• “5% progression rule of your ceiling”: train to your life constraints; don’t exceed recovery capacity

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Presenters / sources mentioned

• Vinton (speaker; used for personal metrics and client results)
• Running coach (sub-4-mile runner coach; name not provided)
• Whoop (device used for VO2 max tracking; referenced as “Whoop’s VO2 Max”)
• Bjørn Dæhlie (cross-country skier; referenced for VO2 max example)
• Santa Cruz Paleo Electrolytes (specific electrolyte product mentioned)