BBC SPORT | Health & Fitness | What happens in a VO2 max test?

Thursday, 29 September 2005, 14:30 GMT 15:30 UK

What happens in a VO2 max test?

Olympic champion rower Matthew Pinsent has a lung capacity of eight-and-a-half litres.

So when it comes to a VO2 max test, why do he and fellow rower James Cracknell fall behind someone like Paula Radcliffe?

Your VO2 max is the maximum amount of oxygen you can shift through your lungs.

But when weight is taken into comparison, it reveals some surprising results.

Here our own potential Olympian (in the loosest sense of the word) is put through his paces.

VO2 MAX FACTS

VO2 max is measured by getting the lungs to work as hard as they can

This is done on a treadmill or a rowing machine where the speed is increased

As the body works harder and harder, the lungs draw on more oxygen to supply the muscles

The body will reach an exhaustion point where the lungs are working at their maximum.This is the point where the measurement is taken

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