Day of Activities :)

This morning, I was at Rocher Rd with Meteor, Alvo, Wildcat and Tiwazz for Philip's max VO2 test. We gathered at the 6th floor of a HDB block, and took brisk steps up to the top of the building. We had brought along our HRMs, so we were able to time our ascent and also record our final heart-rate upon reaching the 17th floor.

Based on the formula: Max VO2 = f (age, height, weight, time taken to ascend 12 floors, final heart-rate), I determined my max VO2 to be about 54 ml/kg/min.

For the uninitiated, max VO2 is the maximum amount of oxygen that can be removed from the blood and used by muscles during a specified period. During a long run, a person is unlikely to maintain his/her VO2 level at the maximum. A lower value of VO2 is more likely instead. A person who can sustain a higher VO2 level will probably perform better in a race.

Given the right training, a person can increase the level of VO2 he/she can maintain, as well as increase his/her max VO2 level (but only up to a limit determined by genetic factors).

Lance Armstrong's max VO2 is 85 ml/kg/min. A typical Kenyan marathoner's max VO2 is about 75 ml/kg/min. Philip said that with my max VO2 level, I should be doing sub-50 min 10-km runs. Gosh, that means I haven't training hard enough!

At the same time though, disturbingly, I found that my HR readings tended to be about 20 beats higher than everyone else. Before we started the test, the others had readings of about 70-80 beats per minute, but mine was 90-100 bpm. At the end of our climb, mine was 180-190 bpm, while the rest were 160-170 bpm. And my HRM was not out of order... I suspect that either my heart is smaller than normal, or I have some really seriously choked arteries...

After doing the test, the group of us went to have breakfast at a neighbourhood kopi tiam, then proceeded to Planet Fitness @ Suntec to claim our 1-month free gym pass. As Philip did not take part in the Vertical Marathon, he didn't qualify for the pass, and so he decided to go shopping instead.

At Planet Fitness, I did predominantly chest training: free dumbbell presses, dumbbell overhead raises, Smith machine decline presses, and cable flyes. I also did some bicep barbell curls, hammer curls, tricep dumbbell raises and compound rows. Later, Wildcat, Meteor, Alvo, Tiwazz and I attended the Spinning class. It was a sweaty, intensive but enjoyable session.

After the class, Wildcat took his leave. While Meteor went to the Ladies' section to shower, the other guys and I went to relax in the sauna and steam room in the Men's section. Yeah, the feeling was good.

Over lunch, Meteor, Alvo, Tiwazz and I planned what we would do next weekend. On Saturday, we would probably go for a City Run around the Suntec area in the early morning. On Sunday, we would go to East Coast Park to support our friends in the SAFRA Biathlon, and then come back to Planet Fitness @ Suntec in the afternoon for the Body Pump and Body Balance classes. Ah, the satisfying feeling of having things to look forward to next weekend!