From looksmaxxing and sleepmaxxing to frictionmaxxing: 2026 has been a year of optimising specific aspects of life. The latest to emerge is VO2maxxing, which relates to how much oxygen your body consumes while exercising (V stands for volume, O2 stands for oxygen and maxxing means, well, maximising).
It’s based on the concept of VO2 max, which has been a concern for endurance athletes for years. This is measured as millilitres of oxygen consumed per kilogram of body weight per minute of exercise. The higher the VO2 max, the more effectively your heart and lungs are supplying blood to your muscles and, in turn, the more efficiently your muscles are extracting and using the oxygen from your blood. A high VO2 max is a good indicator of high fitness level, so it’s little wonder VO2maxxing is gaining traction.
According to medical biochemist Jane Ollis, VO2 max has “quietly become the badge of honour in the longevity world”. According to her, it’s the number everyone wants to boast about, compare and improve. “At its core, it is simply a measure of how well your body can take in oxygen and turn it into energy when things get demanding and it matters,” says Ollis. “It is one of the strongest predictors we have of how long and how well we live.”
As for how to measure your VO2 max, it can be hard to get an accurate reading. “The most accurate way to measure VO2 max is in a lab, on a treadmill or bike, wearing a mask that captures how much oxygen you are using,” says Ollis. “It is precise, but not very accessible. Most people rely on estimates from devices like Garmin, Apple Watch, Oura or Whoop. These are not perfect, but they are good enough to show direction and change over time.”
“Knowing your VO2 max once a year is like checking the strength of your engine”
Medical biochemist Jane Ollis
But once you’ve got a reading you’re happy to rely on, what are the benefits? “Used wisely, it is incredibly helpful,” says Ollis. “Knowing your VO2 max once a year, particularly as you move past 40, gives you a clear sense of your baseline and how it is changing over time. It is like checking the strength of your engine.”
Of course, like any health data metric, there are drawbacks. Perhaps the most important of these is that the pressure of VO2maxxing and being under consistent supervision can become a subtle source of stress in itself. “It is a bit like constantly checking the weather forecast instead of stepping outside and feeling the air,” says Ollis. “The forecast is useful, but it is not the experience itself.”
Instead of getting caught up with maxxing anything, we should probably be striving for balance. For Ollis, to achieve that there’s something else we should be measuring alongside VO2 max: heart rate variability, or HRV, which can easily be measured at home with wearable tech. This is one of the clearest signals we have of how well the body recovers after exertion, like a window into how flexible and responsive the nervous system is. It also ties into “vagal tone”, a reflection of how effectively your vagus nerve helps to bring the body back into a calm, regulated state.
“Cardiovascular fitness and nervous system regulation are not separate goals,” she says. “I often think of the nervous system like an orchestra. VO2 max is the volume at full crescendo, powerful and impressive. HRV and vagal tone are the conductors, guiding when to soften, when to pause, when to bring everything back into harmony. Without that conductor, the music becomes noisy, no matter how strong the instruments are.” Clearly, max volume should not always be the goal.
