Research library
Landmark research on VO2max, fitness and health — what each study did and found, in one line, with a link to the article that explains it.
Ding et al. · Lancet Public Health · Meta-analysis of cohorts
Around 7,000 steps a day vs 2,000 was linked to ~47% lower all-cause mortality, with benefits flattening after that for several outcomes.
Read our article →Weeldreyer et al. · Br J Sports Med · Meta-analysis, ~400,000 people
Fit people had no significant excess mortality whatever their BMI; unfit people had higher risk in every BMI group.
Read our article →Molina-Garcia et al. · Sports Med · Systematic review and meta-analysis
Exercise-based watch estimates are reasonable for groups but can be well off for individuals.
Read our article →Stamatakis et al. · Nat Med · Cohort, 25,241 UK Biobank non-exercisers
About three 1–2 minute vigorous bursts a day were associated with lower all-cause, cancer and CVD mortality.
Read our article →Wilding et al. · N Engl J Med · Randomised trial
Large weight loss; a body-composition substudy showed a substantial share of the loss was lean mass.
Read our article →Lundgren et al. · N Engl J Med · Randomised trial after diet-induced weight loss
Exercise plus liraglutide kept weight off best and improved fitness and body composition.
Read our article →Kandola et al. · BMC Med · Prospective cohort
Low fitness and low grip strength were associated with higher risk of depression and anxiety.
Read our article →McNulty et al. · Sports Med · Meta-analysis
Performance may dip slightly in the early follicular phase on average, but effects are trivial and individual.
Read our article →Stensvold et al. · BMJ · Randomised trial, 1,567 adults aged ~73, 5 years
Twice-weekly HIIT was safe and improved fitness; mortality differences between groups were not statistically significant.
Read our article →Mandsager et al. · JAMA Netw Open · Cohort, 122,007 patients with treadmill tests
Lowest fitness carried about 5× the adjusted mortality of elite fitness, with no upper limit of benefit.
Read our article →Pietilä et al. · JMIR Ment Health · Real-world data, Finnish employees
Alcohol reduced overnight HRV-based recovery in a dose-dependent way.
Read our article →Montero & Lundby · J Physiol · Trial, 78 adults, 1–5 sessions/week
Every non-responder improved VO2max after two extra sessions per week were added.
Read our article →Ross et al. · Circulation · Scientific statement
Recommended that cardiorespiratory fitness be assessed routinely in clinical practice.
Read our article →Lakoski et al. · JAMA Oncol · Cohort, ~14,000 men (Cooper Center)
Fitter men had lower rates of lung and colorectal cancer and better survival after a cancer diagnosis.
Read our article →Kaminsky et al. · Mayo Clin Proc · Lab CPET reference data, US adults
Published age- and sex-specific VO2max percentiles from directly measured tests.
Read our article →Milanović et al. · Sports Med · Meta-analysis of controlled trials
Both improved VO2max; high-intensity intervals tended to improve it more.
Read our article →Laukkanen et al. · JAMA Intern Med · Cohort, 2,315 Finnish men, ~20 years
More frequent sauna use was associated with lower sudden cardiac death and all-cause mortality.
Read our article →Roberts et al. · J Physiol · Trials in active men
Regular cold water immersion after strength sessions blunted gains in muscle mass and strength.
Read our article →Stöggl & Sperlich · Front Physiol · Trial, 48 well-trained athletes, 9 weeks
The polarised (mostly easy, some very hard) group improved most, including VO2peak.
Read our article →Rønnestad & Mujika · Scand J Med Sci Sports · Review
Heavy and explosive strength training improves economy and performance in endurance athletes.
Read our article →Barry et al. · Prog Cardiovasc Dis · Meta-analysis of cohorts
Unfit people had higher mortality whatever their BMI; fit people with overweight or obesity did not.
Read our article →Plews et al. · Sports Med · Review
Rolling 7-day HRV averages track adaptation and fatigue better than single mornings.
Read our article →DeFina et al. · Ann Intern Med · Cohort, ~19,000 adults followed into Medicare years
Higher fitness in midlife was associated with lower risk of dementia later in life.
Read our article →Cornelissen & Smart · J Am Heart Assoc · Meta-analysis of trials
Endurance, resistance and isometric training all lowered blood pressure.
Read our article →Karstoft et al. · Diabetes Care · Randomised trial, type 2 diabetes
Interval walking improved fitness and glucose control more than energy-matched continuous walking.
Read our article →Erickson et al. · PNAS · Randomised trial, 120 older adults, 1 year
Aerobic walking increased hippocampal volume, while it shrank in the stretching control group.
Read our article →Umpierre et al. · JAMA · Meta-analysis of trials
Structured exercise training lowered HbA1c; advice alone helped only when combined with diet.
Read our article →Seiler · Int J Sports Physiol Perform · Review of elite training
Successful endurance athletes do roughly 80% of sessions easy and 20% hard.
Read our article →Kodama et al. · JAMA · Meta-analysis, 33 studies, ~100,000 people
Each 1-MET (3.5 ml/kg/min) higher fitness was linked to about 13% lower all-cause mortality.
Read our article →Støren et al. · Med Sci Sports Exerc · Trial, well-trained runners, 8 weeks
Heavy half-squats improved running economy by about 5% without changing VO2max.
Read our article →Helgerud et al. · Med Sci Sports Exerc · Trial, 40 moderately trained men, 8 weeks
4×4-minute intervals raised VO2max about 7%; steady running at the same total work did not.
Read our article →Wisløff et al. · Circulation · Randomised trial in heart-failure patients
Supervised 4×4 training improved peak oxygen uptake and heart function more than moderate training.
Read our article →Nemoto et al. · Mayo Clin Proc · Trial, middle-aged and older adults, 5 months
Alternating fast and slow walking improved aerobic capacity, thigh strength and blood pressure more than steady walking.
Read our article →Fernandez-Fernandez et al. · Br J Sports Med · Review
Tennis is intermittent: average load around half of VO2max, with short bursts near maximum.
Read our article →Fleg et al. · Circulation · Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging
VO2max declines 3–6% per decade early in adulthood, accelerating to more than 20% per decade after 70.
Read our article →Stølen et al. · Sports Med · Review
Elite players cover about 10–13 km per match at an average of roughly 80–90% of max heart rate.
Read our article →Uth et al. · Eur J Appl Physiol · Trained men
VO2max ≈ 15.3 × max heart rate ÷ resting heart rate — a no-exercise estimate.
Read our article →McGuire et al. · Circulation · Same 5 men retested at 50
Three weeks of bed rest at 20 had hurt fitness more than 30 years of ageing.
Read our article →Bassett & Howley · Med Sci Sports Exerc · Review
In whole-body exercise, VO2max is limited mainly by oxygen delivery: cardiac output and haemoglobin.
Read our article →Mujika & Padilla · Sports Med · Review
Most fitness is kept for weeks if some intensity is maintained while volume drops.
Read our article →Bouchard et al. · J Appl Physiol · 481 sedentary adults from 98 families, 20 weeks
Same training, very different gains; about half the variation in response ran in families.
Read our article →Levine & Stray-Gundersen · J Appl Physiol · Trial in competitive runners
Living at moderate altitude while training low improved red cell mass, VO2max and 5 km performance.
Read our article →Blair et al. · JAMA · Cohort, 13,000+ adults with treadmill tests
The least fit had far higher death rates; the biggest drop in risk came from leaving the lowest fitness group.
Read our article →Kline et al. · Med Sci Sports Exerc · Validation in adults aged 30–69
A brisk 1-mile walk with heart rate predicts VO2max well enough for fitness screening — the Rockport test.
Read our article →Coyle et al. · J Appl Physiol · Endurance athletes, 12 weeks without training
VO2max fell about 7% in 3 weeks and settled about 16% lower after 8 weeks.
Read our article →Costill et al. · Med Sci Sports · Trained distance runners
Marathon performance depended on the fraction of VO2max runners could sustain, not only on VO2max.
Read our article →Cooper · JAMA · Field vs treadmill testing in men
Distance covered in 12 minutes of running tracked lab-measured VO2max closely — the Cooper test.
Read our article →Saltin et al. · Circulation · 5 young men, 3 weeks of bed rest then training
Bed rest cut VO2max by about a quarter, mostly through lower stroke volume; training restored it.
Read our article →Saltin & Åstrand · J Appl Physiol · Lab tests of Swedish national-team athletes
Cross-country skiers had the highest VO2max, followed by runners and other whole-body endurance sports.
Read our article →Summaries are ours and simplified; observational studies show associations, not cause and effect. Read the original papers for details.