| Ever wonder what stat you should be paying attention to when exercising? Sure, calories burnt, step count and maximum heart rate are what we usually look at after a workout. And as soon as I came down from the mountain in Cape Town, I did just that. But more recently, I've also started to pay attention to my cardio capacity, or VO2 max.
VO2 max is a metric that's often overlooked, but after listening to a MindBodyGreen podcast where they talked about how this particular stat is a great indicator of overall fitness, I've been closely tracking it. Even moreso since reading about actor Hugh Jackman's intense VO2 score while training for Deadpool 3. "It's the gold standard of cardio fitness," says Dimitris Spathis, senior scientist at Nokia Bell Labs and the University of Cambridge. VO2 max is a measure of how efficiently our bodies deliver and use oxygen during intense physical effort. The "V" stands for volume, "O2" for oxygen and "max" for maximum. The concept of VO2 max isn't new. In fact, top athletes have been using it for over a century to determine their overall fitness, sometimes spending thousands of dollars in a lab to measure cardio capacity. But health professionals are increasingly saying everyone should be aware of how to maintain and improve this metric for the sake of their health. At its simplest, Spathis says being aware of your VO2 max during exercise will help reflect how well your heart or your lungs and muscles work together. The higher the VO2 max, the fitter you are, he says. In contrast, a low VO2 max means poor cardio fitness and is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality. Nowadays, smartwatches and other wearable devices have a way of measuring cardio capacity. Note that these are only estimates of course, and it still requires the user to log their data when they exercise. It isn't as accurate as being in a lab on a treadmill where the user wears a face mask that measures the amount of oxygen that's inhaled and exhaled. A recent study published in August shows an association between people who exercise regularly and maintain good cardiorespiratory fitness — a high VO2 max — and better brain health, particularly in middle-aged and aging adults. Although tracking our step count and hours of sleep matters, Spathis says they reflect behavior rather than health status. A VO2 max number doesn't change overnight. It's something that you need to be consistent with to see improvement over time. And the more we exercise, the more we see an increase in that number. I haven't been consistent with exercise. In fact, my recent hike to Lion's Head was something I dreaded at the start, as I haven't been physically active in weeks. The mountain inspired me to go slowly and gradually increase the intensity of my walk. Oh and to enjoy the view too, of course. — Angela Feliciano | 
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