VO2 max represents the maximum amount of oxygen that body can utilize during exercise.

Oxygen
utilization is based on oxygen delivery to muscles, which is the job of cardiovascular system. And heart is
the primary driver of cardiovascular performance. Improving VO2 max, therefore, happens when heart
muscle becomes stronger and is able to deliver larger amounts of oxygenated blood to muscles with
every heartbeat.

This also means that as this capacity increases, heart doesn’t have to beat as frequently to deliver the
oxygen required to fuel your muscles at a given effort level. Or, if you compare the same heart rate before
and after your improvement efforts, your heart pumps a greater volume of oxygenated blood after the
improvement—and therefore a greater maximum amount of oxygen per minute.

An individual’s VO2 max is influenced by a range of factors including age, gender, altitude, and, of course,
fitness. The average untrained man will have a VO2 Max around 35-40 mL/kg/min, and the average
untrained woman will have a measurement of around 25-30 mL/kg/min. Well-trained endurance male and
female athletes will often achieve values of 50-60 mL/kg/min and 40-50 mL/kg/min, respectively.

The more intense the exercise bout, the greater the disruption in homeostasis. Your muscles and blood
can become more acidic. Blood oxygen and glucose levels must be regulated to prevent them from falling
below normal levels. Body temperature increases activating thermal regulators processes. When you
exercise three to five times a week for several months, the body will make long-term or chronic
adaptations to the repeated stress of regular exercise.
In response to weeks and months of endurance training, a classic chronic adaptation is an increase in
mitochondrial number, and oxidative capacity in skeletal muscle. After weeks of being repeatedly
activated, chronic adaptations are made in the pathway responsible for mitochondrial biogenesis, thereby
increasing their numbers.

Moreover, when we go from rest to submaximal exercise, the rate of ATP utilization by the muscle
increases dramatically. Basically, when the concentration of ATP in the muscle cell drops below normal
resting levels, the energy charge drops and ATP producing pathways are activated. The energy charge
will drop during exercise dependent upon the exercise intensity and rate of ATP utilization.

Carbohydrates play a important role in the energetics sustaining working muscles.

Endurance or aerobic training adaptation is the ability to use fats as fuel to a greater extent, thereby
preserving our precious carbohydrate stores. There are many factors that influence the degree
and extent to which we use carbohydrate store in a single bout of exercise. Of these, the exercise
intensity and duration, have the greatest impact. As the exercise intensity increases, the reliance
on carbohydrates as a fuel source also increases. At some point, carbohydrates become the preferred
fuel. This is known as the crossover concept.
When amounts of glycogen and or glucose units are broken down aerobically, 30 ATP are produced.
Thus the aerobic breakdown of these units in the mitochondria allows for 15 times more ATP
production per unit. As a result of this greater ATP production, the muscles can afford to use
carbohydrates at a much slower rate. It is worth noting that whether glucose is broken down
anaerobically or aerobically, the initial 10 steps in the pathway of glycolysis are identical.

During aerobic activities, the working muscles rely on blood-borne fuel sources, such as glucose and free
fatty acids. As the muscles extract glucose from the blood for subsequent ATP production, blood glucose
levels would fall dangerously low if the body had no way to immediately replace them.