Your fitness level - your maximum oxygen uptake - is perhaps the best measure of the health of your body. At Mia Health, we don't just give you a good estimate of your maximum oxygen uptake. We also give you the opportunity to measure it accurately.
Why fitness is so important
Over the past few decades, there has been a long line of research papers showing how important your fitness is to your health. With low maximum oxygen uptake, your quality of life decreases (1) and you are at increased risk of lifestyle diseases (2), mental health problems (3) and dying before your life expectancy (4). In fact, a large body of research shows that poor fitness contributes to far more ill health in the world than smoking, obesity and unhealthy levels of sugar and fat in the blood (5).
Indispensable oxygen
Actually, it's not surprising that this is the case. The cells in our body need oxygen to function, and the more oxygen the body can absorb, the better off it is. Our muscle cells need oxygen to be able to produce energy, and the more oxygen that reaches the muscles, the more energy the muscles are able to produce.
A maximum oxygen uptake test can quantify just that: How much oxygen your body is able to absorb and utilize for muscle work every minute at maximum exertion. The result is expressed in the number of milliliters of O2 per kilogram of body weight per minute: ml/kg/min.
The result is often referred to as your fitness number. People with a high fitness number are able to maintain high energy production over a long period of time and thus have good fitness.
Trainable obstacles
On its way from the air to the muscles, oxygen encounters a number of obstacles. First, it has to pass through the lungs and into the bloodstream. A weak heart can prevent oxygen from being pumped efficiently to the rest of the body. The final obstacle on the way to the muscles is the blood vessels, and both stiff blood vessels and a poorly developed network of blood vessels can slow down the flow of oxygen to the muscles.
In other words, your fitness level tells something about the status of many important parts of your body. With the right physical activity, it is possible to improve the function of the heart, blood vessels and muscles (6, 7, 8) - and thus increase your fitness level (9).
Test your VO2 max accurately with Mia Health
Mia Health gives everyone the opportunity to get a research-based estimate of their fitness level in the app. This is converted into a fitness age, so you always know where you stand compared to others of your age.
However, Mia Health also offers even more accurate fitness testing (currently only available in Norway). This means that anyone who wants to can find out their exact fitness level and fitness age. The test is just as suitable and useful for the untrained as for the well-trained.
How it works
Anyone who wants to test their VO2 max can fill in the form at the bottom of the page to get in touch with us. The test itself, which is carried out on a treadmill or exercise bike, works like this:
- A ten-minute warm-up to get your breathing, heart muscle and legs going. During the warm-up, we find out how the test should be set up for you, so that we start with a reasonable load and can gradually increase the load in the best possible way.
- We help you put on a mask that measures the oxygen level in the air you exhale. This mask does not affect the air you breathe in and therefore in no way limits your breathing ability or your ability to work hard during the test.
- The test itself starts. From initial load to maximum exertion, the test takes 5-10 minutes. The load is increased slightly every minute. The test ends when you can't continue any longer or when our measurements show that you have reached your maximum oxygen uptake.
The last few seconds of a VO2 max test are tiring, but completely doable for everyone. At Mia Health, we ensure that fitness testing is a safe and enjoyable experience for you, whatever your physical starting point.
More insight and better advice
The exercise physiologists at Mia Health have over a decade of experience in premium fitness testing. We've tested everyone from top athletes to seriously ill heart patients, and we specialize in setting up the test in a way that feels safe and feasible for everyone.
The result from a VO2 max test with Mia Health can be plotted directly in the Mia Health app, so your fitness age is updated automatically. With our precise measurements, you can gain even better insight into your own health - and lifestyle advice that is even better adapted to you and your situation.
Mia Health has also linked up with quality-assured test partners across large parts of the country. This means that we can offer you a Mia Health-approved VO2 max test almost anywhere in Norway.
Two birds with one stone
A VO2 max test will help you find your maximum heart rate exactly. Maximum heart rate is used to calculate your AQ score accurately, among other things.
In other words, with a VO2 max test from Mia, you can kill two birds with one stone:
- 100% correct fitness age in the Mia Health app
- 100% correct calculation of your AQ score in the Mia Health app
NB! You can also do a full maximum heart rate test on your own. We show you how on our maximum heart rate website.
- Sloan, R. A., Sawada, S. S., Martin, C. K., Church, T., & Blair, S. N. (2009)Associations between cardiorespiratory fitness and health-related quality of life. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 7(1), 1-5.
- Kaminsky, L. A., Arena, R., Ellingsen, Ø., Harber, M. P., Myers, J., Ozemek, C., & Ross, R. (2019).Cardiorespiratory fitness and cardiovascular disease-the past, present, and future. Progress in cardiovascular diseases, 62(2), 86-93.
- Kandola, A., Ashdown-Franks, G., Stubbs, B., Osborn, D. P. J., & Hayes, J. F. (2019).The association between cardiorespiratory fitness and the incidence of common mental health disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of affective disorders, 257, 748-757.
- Imboden, M. T., Harber, M. P., Whaley, M. H., Finch, W. H., Bishop, D. L., & Kaminsky, L. A. (2018).Cardiorespiratory fitness and mortality in healthy men and women. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 72(19), 2283-2292.
- Myers, J., Prakash, M., Froelicher, V., Do, D., Partington, S., & Atwood, J. E. (2002). Exercise capacity and mortality among men referred for exercise testing. New England journal of medicine, 346(11), 793-801.
- Moreira, J. B., Wohlwend, M., & Wisløff, U. (2020).Exercise and cardiac health: physiological and molecular insights. Nature Metabolism, 2(9), 829-839.
- Ashor, A. W., Lara, J., Siervo, M., Celis-Morales, C., Oggioni, C., Jakovljevic, D. G., & Mathers, J. C. (2015).Exercise modalities and endothelial function: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Sports medicine, 45(2), 279-296.
- Lim, A. Y., Chen, Y. C., Hsu, C. C., Fu, T. C., & Wang, J. S. (2022). The effects of exercise training on mitochondrial function in cardiovascular diseases: A systematic review and meta-analysis, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 23(20), 12559.
- Scribbans, T. D., Vecsey, S., Hankinson, P. B., Foster, W. S., & Gurd, B. J. (2016).The effect of training intensity on VO2max in young healthy adults: a meta-regression and meta-analysis. International journal of exercise science, 9(2), 230.