AEROBIC CAPACITY

Oxygen is vital for the continuation of medium and long-term exercise. The harder you work the more
oxygen you need, the more oxygen you can supply the higher the work-rate you can sustain. Your
maximum oxygen uptake (VO2 max) is the ‘maximal amount of oxygen that you can take up and use at
sea level’.

VO2 max is accepted as being the most reliable indicator of aerobic or endurance fitness. Performers with
the highest VO2 max values are the ones who can maintain the highest work rates particularly during the
later stages of exercise.

VO2 max is measured in millilitres of oxygen/kilogram of body weight/minute (ml.kg-1min-1). Your VO2 max
was estimated by performance in the multistage fitness test or ‘bleep test’ which required you to
complete a series of 20m shuttle runs in time with a series of audio signals.


EIHA Average VO2 max 2008 = 42.9ml.kg-1min-1


Off-ice testing on elite ice hockey players reveals that they possess an average VO2 max of 57.1ml.kg-
1min-1.

You can compare your results to the following table which shows the average levels for the general
population.

Female VO2 max ( ml.kg-1min-1) Male VO2 max ( ml.kg-1min-1)
Classification 13- 20- 30- 40- 50-
19 29 39 49 59 60+
13- 20- 30- 40- 50-
19 29 39 49 59 60+
Very Poor <25.0 <23.6 <22.8 <21.0 <20.2 <17.5 <35.0 <33.0 <31.5 <30.2 <26.1 <20.5
Poor <30.9 <28.9 <26.9 <24.4 <22.7 <20.1 <38.3 36.4 <35.4 <33.5 <30.9 <26.0
Fair <34.9 <32.9 <31.4 <28.9 <26.9 <24.4 <45.1 <42.4 <40.9 <38.9 <35.7 <32.2
Good <38.9 <36.9 <35.6 <32.8 <31.4 <30.2 <50.9 <46.4 <44.9 <43.7 <40.9 <36.4
Excellent <41.9 <41.0 <40.0 <36.9 <35.7 <31.4 <55.9 <52.4 <49.4 <48.0 <45.3 <44.2
Superior >41.9 >41.0 >40.0 >36.9 >35.7 >31.4 >55.9 >52.4 >49.4 >48.0 >45.3 >44.2

If your aerobic fitness is poor it is advisable that you try to improve it! If you have not previously
trained or haven’t trained for quite some time, you will first need to develop an ‘aerobic base’ by
carrying out ‘continuous training’ 3-5 times per week. Once you have developed a base, interval
training will allow you to optimise your fitness efficiently and performing this twice a week would be
sufficient combined with your on-ice training.

Continuous training requires 30-60 minutes of training and it can be completed by running, cycling,
skating, swimming and/or using any piece of aerobic kit (treadmill, cycle, cross-trainer, elliptical trainer,
rowing machine). This training should be performed between 65% and 85% of your maximum heart
rate or at a level which represents about 5-7 out of 10 where 10 is your maximum – this is the level at
which you feel you could still hold a conversation.

If doing 30-60 minutes would be too much for you to begin with, you can split it into smaller chunks of
10-15 minutes. A common problem with this type of training is boredom, so it makes sense to split the
session into smaller chunks of exercise on different machines (if using a gym) to give it a bit more
variety. By accumulating 30-60 minutes exercise in this way you will get almost identical benefits to
those achieved by doing one single block of exercise.



BlueSkies Health, Fitness & Well-Being
info@blueskiesfitness.co.uk www.blueskiesfitness.co.uk
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