The Beep Test and the term Vo2Max are often mentioned in the same breath.
I thought I would very quickly explain the term Vo2max in a simple way to give you a better understanding of what it is and how it is relevant to the Beep Test or Bleep Test.
Vo2 Max is a reading or score which indicates how much (volume) oxygen ones body can process at any given time while exercising at (maximum) cardiovascular intensity. So, at some point, no matter how hard you try, your body can only process so much oxygen and therefore produce so much movement, speed, power, strength etc.
Unless you’re an elite athlete and are tracking your Vo2max to test and measure the effectiveness of your training efforts, it’s probably pretty useless information. For us mere mortals, we achieve the same end result by watching our beep test or bleep test scores climb over a period of time.
Here’s an analogy to understand Vo2Max a little better. If you were driving in your car and you pushed your foot down on the accelerator as far as possible, your car’s engine could only process so much fuel and oxygen at any given time, REGARDLESS of how hard you pushed down on the accelerator pedal. Vo2Max is basically the same. In terms of our car, its vo2Max might be given as the kilometres/miles per hour that are able to be reached at top speed, REGARDLESS of how you’re pushing on the pedal.
Vo2Max scores can be calculated by using results from beep test or bleep test efforts. For interest sake, a beep test score of 6.10 would result in a Vo2Max ‘score’ of 36.28.
The good news is your Vo2Max can be increased by doing the right training!
