A Century of Athletic Evolution: From the 1924 Paris Olympics to the Birth of VO2 Max
By Veronique Billat PhD founder and CEO of www.BillaTraining.com
1924 in France is vital because the Olympics were in Paris a century ago. It's also important because that's when A.V. Hill discovered the concept of VO2 max.
We must continue exploring the limiting factors of VO2 max and, above all, its potential for improvement. This isn't because we must set new records or write new books. Instead, it's about longevity and living with quality into our later years. VO2 max adds to our active life expectancy, or even simpler, adding life to life (see my previous post). Active life expectancy considers the period during which a person can lead a relatively autonomous life and fully participate in social, professional, and leisure activities without being hindered by major health problems, with the ability to live actively. Remember that seventy percent of people in the U.S. over 65 cannot get up from the floor with one or two hands.
Healthy Life Expectancy vs. Life Expectancy
In 2019, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), healthy life expectancy at birth was about 64.4 years for men and 65.6 years for women in France, and it’s decreasing while overall we are living longer.
How can we avoid living non-autonomously?
As we age, our VO2 max declines. Like death, there’s nothing we can do to prevent this. But we must limit the decline of VO2 max throughout our lives. To this end, the physiology of performance in accomplishing an exercise autonomously will enable sports health practitioners to better target the intensity and duration of repeated exercises in the context of personalized training.
VO2 max – With or Without Oxygen
VO2 max is the foundation of aerobic energy production (which uses oxygen). Nevertheless, it doesn't produce energy fast enough at high intensities to ensure our escape from imminent danger (a tiger) or a sprint start at the Olympic Games. To optimize aerobic energy production during running accelerations during long efforts (known as endurance) or during a steep climb while running, cycling, or a counterattack in team sports, it's necessary to support an oxygen deficit by providing energy from our anaerobic metabolism (an = without oxygen). Thus, anaerobic metabolism occurs in the absence of oxygen or when the energy demand increases rapidly more than the oxygen supply.
Moving Outside the Lab
Thanks to new technologies, we can now examine the physiological factors of sports performance by moving out of the laboratory and into the natural essence of the activity. This understanding of the reality of the field and different sports brings us closer to truly personalized training: this quest for the Holy Grail that I have pursued for over 30 years.
Archibald Vivian Hill had already understood everything 100 years ago
The concept of VO2 max stems from the work of Archibald Vivian Hill (figure), a Nobeloreate in Physiology & Medicine who unlocked the vast field of research. He also inspired the possibility of improving VO2 max by training in a "physiological" manner, that is, by using sessions that optimize its limiting factors: cardiorespiratory and muscular.
Since the concept of maximum oxygen consumption, the famous VO2 max, was introduced 100 years ago by AV Hill, we have discovered its crucial role in sports performance, recovery, and longevity. Its value indicates the efficiency of the cardio-respiratory system in transporting oxygen to the muscles and the muscle cells' ability to use this oxygen to produce energy, predominantly in the form of ATP (adenosine triphosphate). Archibald Vivian Hill had already understood everything—except the role of phosphocreatine and lactate (which hadn't yet been discovered) as energy substrates, especially for the brain and the heart.
VO2 max, or the maximum oxygen consumption, measures an individual's maximum capacity to utilize oxygen during intense and sustained physical efforts. AV Hill, himself a runner, had the idea to start running faster and faster by proceeding with a succession of independent speed intervals (separated by an unspecified rest period) until he could no longer sustain an increase in speed. A.V. Hill's VO2 max test, for which he was his own study subject, involves independent speed intervals of 4 minutes. Here, oxygen consumption is expressed as an additional value (excess oxygen in liters per minute that needs to be consumed in addition to the resting value, which is about 0.3 L.min⁻¹ for a human of an average weight of 70 kg). However, this long-interval test, which was shortened by adding short intervals, is now used to define the TRUE lactate accumulation threshold by determining the maximal lactate steady state of the blood.
Good Science Stands the Test of Time
It shows that, ultimately, in science, we end up recycling good protocols! The balance between aerobic and anaerobic profiles varies from person to person and can be influenced by genetic factors, physical training, and sports preferences. Some athletes may be more aerobically inclined, while others may excel in more anaerobic activities. Training programs are often designed to develop these two profiles in a balanced manner according to the athlete's specific goals. However, to estimate the aerobic and anaerobic energy profile, which refers to an individual's ability to produce energy under aerobic (with oxygen supply) and anaerobic (without oxygen supply) conditions, we will teach you how to analyze your speed profile based on the duration of the race (this is valid for all locomotion-based sports). This evaluation, which requires only sweat and commitment on runs lasting from 3 to 30 minutes at the maximum possible pace, will be the starting point for the first chapter analyzing the bioenergetic aspects of this sports performance.
The figure below presents a modern test that integrates all cardiorespiratory responses and the associated feelings (or sensations) of exertion as perceived by the subject. This Borg scale (1982) is known as a "Rate of Perception of Exhaustion" (RPE). This perceptual dimension is crucial to integrating the ability to give simple instructions using our perceived sensations to guide a training session—the old-fashioned way. We've forgotten this possibility due to a lack of self-confidence, always seeking reassurance through a GPS or heart rate monitor.
The determination of VO2 max with ventilatory parameters, which means the ratio between the ventilatory flow rate (VE in liters per minute) and the maximum oxygen consumption (O2 in liters per minute) (VE/O2 in blue) and the ratio between the ventilatory flow rate (VE in liters per minute) and the CO2 output (VCO2 in liters per minute) (VE/VCO2 in red). We immediately see that we must ventilate 40 liters of air to consume just one liter of oxygen (VE/VO2 = 40 at O2 max). We will explore the possibility of ventilation being a limiting factor for maximum oxygen consumption. Here, the athlete is cycling against watts on a cycle ergometer and felt the effort perceived at VO2 max was very difficult.
Dr. Billat is the inventor of BillaTraining.com and actively teaches and researches at the University of Paris. Stay tuned for her next article as she dissects the 2024 men's and women's Marathon performances in France.