Do ordinary people, not athletes, need to monitor their physical activity indicators? If a person wants to be active at the age of 70, then it is extremely necessary.
MOC, Maximum Oxygen Consumption, is a numerical indicator that provides information about the body's overall capacity for high physical activity.
But in people of middle and old age, the VO indicator2max allows to judge how quickly their body succumbs to the aging process.
Maximum oxygen uptake is…
The value of the IPC is an integral indicator of the physical capabilities of an athlete. The cardiorespiratory system has its own power limit. Maximum oxygen consumption, MPC, is this limiting indicator, which determines how much O2 in milliliters the body can process and release energy from it within a minute of time.
When an athlete reaches the ceiling of their cardiorespiratory system during aerobic training, their heart rate rises above 200 bpm. And the respiratory coefficient is above unity. From this point on, his performance indicators begin to fall, and the person may begin to choke. Lack of air means that the athlete has exceeded his allowable load level, the exchange inside the cells began to occur according to the anaerobic principle (with the participation of hydrogen).
Norms for different age groups
For he althy individuals, the rate is approximately 3500 ml / min. Until the age of 20, the BMD gradually increases, it grows especially strongly in young people who go to the gym. Period 20–35 years - stabilization.
After 35 years of age, if there is no aerobic exercise, that is, there is no cardio training (such as running, rowing, biathlon), a decrease in the MOC occurs in a certain period.
After age 65, BMD in most people drops to 1/3 of the original youthful values.
The average VO2max for non-athletic men is 45 ml/kg/min. In women, the value approaches 38 ml/kg/min.
What determines the value of the IPC?
Factors affecting the IPC indicator are as follows:
- Age. After the age of 35, assuming no activity, the level of consumption of O2 drops rapidly every decade.
- IPC depends on mass. When comparing the performance of several people. Their oxygen consumption is compared not in absolute ml/min, but inrelative (9 ml/kg/min).
- Fitness.
- Gender. Up to 12 years of age, there is no difference between the indicators of boys and girls. But after adolescence, males experience approximately 20% to 25% higher maximal oxygen uptake due to greater weight, blood volume, and higher cardiac output.
- The state of the cardiovascular system.
- Heredity.
The value of maximum oxygen consumption does not depend on the amount of food, on the number of training sessions per day, or on the time of day of training. It's more important for a runner not to gain weight, to stay light.
Maximum oxygen consumption is a value that is quite difficult to regulate. In many ways, the IPC indicator determines heredity. Sometimes, even the best efforts, diets are not enough to get into big sports, if the heart is not naturally so strong.
How to increase IPC?
There are 3 known ways how purely mechanically it is possible to increase the IPC:
- Stretch the heart, increasing blood flow.
- Increase hemoglobin levels through exercise and nutrition. If there are more transport cells for oxygen, more energy will be released by the mitochondria.
- The third way is leg muscle training. When the muscles and vessels of the legs and arms are kept in good shape, the bloodstream has no obstacles in the way.
For an athlete, the level of the IPC is the limit of the possibilities of "energy extraction". When there is not enough oxygen, energy production occurs inhydrogen count. And the heart has to work faster to remove metabolic products from the body.
Value for athletes
Athletes' maximum oxygen consumption is the main indicator of their "suitability" for the world of professional big sport. Long-distance runners, skiers and rowers have MIC levels in excess of 80 ml/min and sometimes 90 ml/min.
To maintain their body, they must adhere to special diets and sleep the required number of hours at night to restore energy costs. They are completely forbidden to drink alcohol. Bad habits disrupt hemodynamics, and muscle tone drops.
Aging processes. How to slow down?
It is known that every 10 years the IPC decreases by 10%. Reduced aerobic capacity reduces activity and endurance. This becomes especially noticeable after 40-45 years. It becomes more difficult for a person to perform ordinary physical actions. In physiology, therefore, consider the maximum oxygen consumption as a marker of aging. It is taken into account together with other important indicators.
Moreover, this indicator has been used for a long time. Biological age is not always exactly equal to the real, passport. The body is much more worn out in someone who does not play sports and abuses bad habits such as smoking. And even at 40, such people can look 55. And their joints and blood vessels will be much "older" than they should be.
But constantexercises, jogging can delay aging processes, such as a decrease in vascular elasticity, an increase in pressure and cell aging. Special studies have shown that runners in old age have a lower risk of getting cancer or dying from a heart attack.
While a seasoned athlete who constantly experiences aerobic exercise, in his 40s will look younger and feel he althier and more cheerful.
Definition of IPC
The value of the maximum oxygen consumption is determined in most cases by an indirect method. The direct method is to bring the athlete to extreme exhaustion, when the rhythm of his heart is at the limit of its acceptable limits.
In the indirect method, the indicator is calculated using formulas after 5 minutes of running on the treadmill. The most famous methods are: Astrand's nomogram, Cooper's test.
According to Astrand's nomogram, the test is carried out as follows. In the last seconds of the fifth minute of active exercise, the participant's heart rate is checked. Before that, its exact weight is measured. Lines are then drawn on the graphical scale. And at the point of intersection of the two graphs, the average value of the IPC is determined. This is a simple test and does not cause any harm to the athlete.
Conclusions
Maximum oxygen consumption characterizes the functional state of the respiratory and cardiac systems. The indicator can be used to select athletes for special competitions; but also sometimesuse BMD to diagnose how worn out the body is, that is, aged.
There are 2 ways to determine the IPC - a direct method and an indirect one. The most commonly used indirect method, which is safer for he alth.
