TLDR: What you need to know

• Zone 5 workouts are when you are working really hard, and your heart rate is 90% of max. You can think of this as training "VO2 max" and can do it from running, biking, swimming, or rowing. Improving VO2 max is highly beneficial for longevity, so we highly recommend it for everyone on the Ray Wu MD program.
• VO2 max is the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use at any given time.
• Higher VO2 max is directly correlated with longer lifespan.
• Finding out your VO2 max is best done through treadmill tests, but can now also be determined from an Apple Watch.
• You can improve VO2 max with a simple workout, 1x a week.
• Literally everyone in all age categories should increase their VO2 max through zone 5 workouts. It's never too late to start.

Ray's Take

Out of all the metrics we think are important, VO2 max is my the one I rank lowest in.

However, the data is clear. VO2 max matters.

Why? Higher VO2 max lowers your risk of dying. And in fact, training VO2 max is more effective than literally any medication you can take for increasing your lifespan.

Training VO2 max doesn't take too much time, but is purposely difficult when doing it.

Let's both make it a goal to increase our VO2 max this year!

How to train VO2 max

It's really pretty simple:
- Go as hard as you can for 4 minutes while running, biking, swimming, or rowing.
- Rest for 4 minutes.
- Repeat 3-5 times

Do this 1x a week.

Cool knowledge for normal people

Data from this study published in JAMA shows that
- Increasing your VO2 max from the bottom 25% to 25%-50% reduces your risk of dying over the next 10 years by 2x.
- Increasing your VO2 max from the bottom 25% to 50%-75% reduces your risk of dying over the next 10 years by 2.75x.
- Increasing your VO2 max from the bottom 25% to 75%-95% reduces your risk of dying over the next 10 years by 3.9x.

• Increasing your VO2 max from the 25%-50% to 50-75% reduces your risk of dying over the next 10 years by 1.4x.
• Increasing your VO2 max from the 25%-50% to 75-95% reduces your risk of dying over the next 10 years by 2x.

There is nearly no other medication or intervention in which you can impact your risk of dying by this much. And it is totally doable with 30 min of training, 1x a week!

Classification of VO2 max