VO₂max is not the whole story.
I’ve been showing this slide for the last 15 years.
Same athlete, 2 years apart.
VO₂max? Essentially unchanged.
Performance? From average to one of the best.
What changed was lactate!.
VO₂max reflects cardiorespiratory adaptations to exercise, the size of the engine: heart, lungs, and oxygen delivery.
Lactate reflects how efficiently that engine runs: mitochondrial function, cellular metabolism, substrate utilization, and metabolic flexibility.
At the same workload, markedly lower lactate indicates greater mitochondrial efficiency and improved lactate clearance capacity. In other words, better metabolism.
In elite sport, we’ve known for decades that VO₂max does not discriminate among top performers. Many athletes share similar VO₂max values, yet those with superior mitochondrial function are the ones who win. That difference is metabolic efficiency, and we assess it through lactate testing, not VO₂max testing.
Suddenly VO₂max is being crowned as the gold standard for longevity. But metabolic health is one of the main focuses of longevity. If that is the case, the most meaningful marker should also be metabolic and Lactate provides a more precise window into mitochondrial function. Furthermore, unlike VO₂max, Lactate allows us to individualize and prescribe exercise with accuracy, something we’ve been doing with athletes for decades
#lactate #metabolichealth #longevity
1. First build capacity, then ask for resources.
If you don’t build capacity first, resources will only expose you.
Build the engine before you press the accelerator.
If there is depth, resources expand your capacity if not they revel your fragility.
2. Performance is behavioral, not an expression and not your identity
Your race is an expression. Performance is behavior under pressure.
You are neither your race nor your performance.
Identity is built in the daily process: in the work, in the discipline and in the repetition.
You build capacity = consistent work.
You test capacity in competition = expression.
Behavior, repeated daily = performance.
Performance is how you behave.
Identity is who you become in the process.
📸 Backnin the day 🏎️🔥 🧵 👇
Read “The #Cynefin framework in Software-Development and Business-Development: A tool for decision making…“ by David Theil on @Medium
https://t.co/tH7qfQh2PW