Does walking to the mailbox or up a short flight of stairs leave you winded? You may be experiencing a decline in VO2 max, and that number matters more than you might think.<\/p>\n
VO2 max measures your body\u2019s ability to absorb and use oxygen while exercising and is one of the strongest overall measures of cardiovascular fitness<\/a>. It\u2019s also a key marker of cardiorespiratory fitness and is linked to heart health, longevity<\/a> and daily function.<\/p>\n VO2 max naturally declines with age. How do you know it\u2019s diminishing? Climbing stairs and doing everyday tasks seem a bit harder. The good news? Targeted exercise can reverse some of this decline, even in your 60s and 70s.<\/p>\n Why VO2 max declines with age<\/p>\n Sedentary aging causes the heart to shrink and stiffen, much like a rubber band that\u2019s left in a drawer for decades and loses its snap, according to Dr. Benjamin\u00a0D.\u00a0Levine, founder\u00a0and director\u00a0of the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas and UT Southwestern and a leading expert on VO2 max.\ufeff<\/p>\n This, in part, leads to a reduction of the oxygen the muscles can use to help produce energy during exercise.<\/p>\n Why it matters for health and longevity<\/p>\n Higher VO2 max correlates with lower mortality and better functional capacity, making life easier as you age.<\/p>\n Beyond the heart, staying fit can help with weight management, mood and even your sex life, creating a positive ripple effect. Dr. Jocelyn Wittstein, an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at Duke University and coauthor of The Complete Bone and Joint Health Plan, says there are brain benefits<\/a>, too: High-intensity interval training<\/a> can increase BDNF, a molecule that promotes brain health and neuroplasticity. And a study published in March found that a few minutes of vigorous exercise a day lowers risk for eight major diseases.<\/p>\n Everything from climbing stairs to walking uphill feels easier if you have a high VO2 max score. It can also help stave off the frailty that often hits in one\u2019s late 70s or 80s.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Does walking to the mailbox or up a short flight of stairs leave you winded? You may be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":437432,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[223719,223714,223716,223717,565,134,223715,111,139,223718,69,223713],"class_list":["post-437431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-age-specific-fitness-plans","tag-cardiorespiratory-fitness-after-50","tag-cardiovascular-health-aging","tag-exercises-to-prevent-frailty","tag-fitness","tag-health","tag-how-to-increase-vo2-max","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-norwegian-4x4-workout","tag-nz","tag-vo2-max-for-older-adults"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=437431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437431\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/437432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=437431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=437431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}