PhD exercise physiologist here - VO2 max is derived by the Fick equation; the volume of oxygen = heart rate x stroke volume x the a-v O2 difference. The heart rate is how many times the heart beats each minute. Stroke volume is the amount of blood the heart pumps with each beat. The a-v O2 difference is the amount of oxygen muscles extract. In an exercise physiology lab the total volume in liters of oxygen consumed during maximal exercise is measured. This volume is then divided by a person body weight and is shown as milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute. Because it is adjusted for body weight, in addition to exercise training, VO2 max also increases when a person loses weight. For example, if they lose ten percent of body weight, their VO2 max increases ten percent.

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@jgg2220

6 days ago

Exercise Physiologist here as well. Everything you say was correct except the last part. If you lose 10% of your body mass, everything else being equal, your VO2 max increases 11.1%. When you reduce by 10%, you have to increase 11.1% to get back to original number

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@RichiefromPhilly

5 days ago

⁠⁠ @jgg2220 Thank you for correcting me! Much appreciated! For this who are interested, here’s the math…. Let’s assume at baseline they weighed 200 lbs (90.90 kg), they lost 20 lbs, and now weigh 180 lbs (81.81 kg). Their initial VO2 max was 35 ml/kg/min or 3181 ml/min (35 ml/kg/min * 90.90 kg). Their absolute VO2 max is still 3181 ml/min, but their relative VO2 max is now 38.89 ml/kg/min (3181 ml/min / 81.81 kg). To derive how much their V02 max increased, 38.89 ml/kg/min - 35.00 ml/kg/min = 3.89 ml/kg/min. 3.89 / 35.00 = 11.1%

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@esersekercioglu3204

4 days ago (edited)

The last part is somewhat wrong. When you lose 10% body weight your muscle mass and more importantly blood volume also decreases. The total amount of oxygen your vessels can carry and your muscles can utilize do not remain constant. When you lose fat your VO2 Max would increase but not as much as your weight loss. In fact depending on how you lose weight your VO2 max may not increase at all (if you lose a lot of lean muscle)