Do you, your kids, or grandkids play sports? If you do, you probably know that aerobic fitness can help improve performance. But did you know that aerobic fitness, specifically aerobic capacity is also important to avoid injury?
There’s a lot of research that shows that lower aerobic capacity is associated with a higher risk of injury. Aerobic capacity, is most frequently measured by VO2 max, either in a lab or a field test.
Lower Aerobic Capacity Increases Injury Risk
You can see in the video below the results of a 2017 study of female adolescent soccer players. Players with lower VO2 max had a higher risk of having 2 or more injuries during a season. When the P= .05 or less, it indicates a significant difference.
You can see the other interesting finding: lower VO2 max was also associated with a higher incidence of illness during the season.
The important take away here is that training to increase VO2 max can help you avoid injury and illness. If you’re not injured but starting to play sports or recovering from an injury, you need to train this.
How You Can Train Aerobic Capacity (VO2 max)
There is more than one way you can do this. Aerobic training is primarily prescribed based on % of maximum heart rate (HR max). Some research shows that training for 20 to 30 min at 60% to 70% of HR max can increase VO2 max if you’re untrained.
However the research is clear that high intensity interval training (HIIT) works best if you’re healthy, overweight/obese or athletic. There are 2 different strategies.
Strategy 1
- Short work interval (≤30 seconds of work per interval at 85% to 95% of HR max)
- Low-volume (≤5 min of total work/session)
- Example: 30 seconds of work, followed by 30 seconds of rest for a total of 10 rounds.
This strategy is time-efficient and highly effective for improving VO2 max, especially for the general population. You can see VO2 max improvements with as little as 4 weeks of training.
Strategy 2
- longer interval (≥2 min of work per interval at 85 to 90% of HR max)
- higher volume (≥15 min of work/session)
- Example: 3 min of work followed by 3 minutes of rest for a total of 5 rounds
This strategy requires more time, but you can see greater improvements in VO2 max.
With either strategy 2 times a week is enough to see good improvements. Doing more than 3 times a week is probably going to take time away from other things you could be training without much gain in VO2 max.
In either case, if you’re not used to aerobic exercise, building a baseline of aerobic fitness in the 60% to 70% is a good place to start. You’ll see some initial gains in VO2 max and you need to train this energy system too.
If you’ve built a good base in the 60% to 70% HR zone, then HIIT training can help get you the rest of the way to your goals.
If you’re trying to get back to being active or return to sports, we can help you!
At Solutions Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine in Alexandria and Springfield, VA, our physical therapists are experts at helping people get back to an active life.
Call us at 703-299-3111, or click here to request an appointment.
A member of our team will schedule you an appointment with one of our expert physical therapists.
What happens if you don’t have a plan to improve your aerobic capacity?
- You feel get tired and out of breath when you’re going up and down the stairs.
- You’re more likely to get injured when you play sports.
- You can’t keep up with your kids when they want you to play with them.
But with a plan to improve your aerobic capacity you can live the confident and active life you want.
If you want an expert to listen to your unique problems and guide you to success, a Solutions Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine physical therapist in Alexandria or Springfield, VA will create a plan specifically for you.
You’ll feel confident that you have the knowledge and ability to stay active and do all the things you want.
Call us at 703-299-3111, or click here to schedule your appointment and get started.
Working to keep you living your best life,
The Solutions Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine Team
