My VO2max Testing Discontinuous Protocol Results from Washington State University in Pullman
This is a blog post about my results from VO2max Testing (Discontinuous Protocol) that I did at Washington State University in Pullman. It includes both VO2max Testing and checking blood lactate concentrations.
I've been wanting to get to the bottom of my unusual high speed exercise endurance for a long time. I even wondered if there is a connection to my ADHD which I have viewed as a great reservoir of energy that prevents me from being tired when doing cardiovascular activity. Cardiovascular exercise makes me more energetic instead of tired. Wanting to help bring insight into the energy levels of people that have ADHD was another reason why I did the VO2max testing.
I experience an unusual lack of fatigue during high-speed cardiovascular activity such as rapid cycling on an indoor exercise bike, running in place, and speedpunching. Despite engaging in 1-hour high-intensity cardio workouts daily , I did not feel any cardiovascular tiredness. I have a very rare ability to exercise in VO2max zone at will for long periods of time. I was curious to understand the underlying factors behind this. I suspected that it might be related to elevated adrenaline production and/or reduced lactic acid accumulation.
I did the cycling ergometer test instead of treadmill test because of my coordination/balance issues in connection to my Dyspraxia and Ataxia which I have along with Dyslexia and ADHD. I ended up with a VO2max of 46.7 which places me in the 90 percentile for my age group with me being 53 year old man. I was stopped a little past half way point of Stage 3. The resistance got me. I wasn't tired at all in regards to my cardiovasular system and wasn't breathless. Speed endurance and cardiovascular endurance are my strengths. Resistance endurance is not my strength, and that is why I was doing a lot of strength training in the gym to get stronger to help me with resistance.
There was nothing abnormal about my blood lactate levels. My getting energetic and not getting tired from doing cardio has nothing to do with lactate processing. I think that it is has to do with how I process mitochondria and adrenaline. I am also curious about glucose/energy metabolism. I have rare (< 1% in every population) and low frequency common (< 5% in every population) functionally significant variants in NUAK1, NUAK2, PRKAA1, and PRKAA2 which are genes that genecards show as having glucose/energy as a super pathway. I will make a post going over those variants.
I noticed that fitness watches that measure VO2max don't take resistance into account. The Fitbit app in connection to my Pixel 3 watch shows my having Fitness scores (estimates of my VO2max) of 54-58 for this month September, 55-59 for last month August, 55-59 for July, and 54-58 for June. I wondered if there are other ways to test VO2max that don't include resistance.
During the VO₂max test, my heart rate peaked around 174 bpm, and it seems that may have been interpreted as my maximum heart rate. That’s not accurate in my case.
I routinely reach significantly higher heart rates during my regular training sessions. In fact, I’ve had my heart rate tracked as high as 201 bpm in recent months. I have done multiple workouts with maximum heart rates in the 180s and 190s. I’ve included examples from my fitness watch logs showing this.
I’m not someone who reaches high heart rates due to poor fitness. On the contrary, my resting heart rate is consistently in the 50s which reflects a strong cardiovascular baseline. The elevated resting HR during the test (110 bpm) was not typical for me for I had walked briskly to the facility, carrying my laptop in a backpack, and had difficulty finding the building, which spiked my heart rate before the test even began. I attached my FitBit app log of my walk to appointment. The duration was 46 minutes with with an average heart rate of 136 bpm.
As for my breathing, I saw in the report that I had rapid breaths toward the end. That wasn’t due to respiratory fatigue. I didn’t feel any distress in my lungs. Instead, I was simply trying to breathe more efficiently while wearing the mouthpiece. I’ve always found it harder to breathe naturally with something over my mouth, and that sensation brings a bit of anxiety for me.
Given this context, I don’t believe I reached my actual cardiovascular maximum during the test. What limited me was local muscular fatigue, especially due to the increasing resistance on the bike, not my heart or lungs. I never felt tired in my chest, lungs, or breathing. The tiredness was only in my legs.
Even though I’m proud of the 90th percentile result, I believe my true VO₂max may be underrepresented in this specific protocol due to how it taxed resistance endurance over high-speed endurance which is my personal strength.
I believe that that my case is a perfect example of why outliers matter and why contextual data (like real-world exercise logs and lived experience) should be considered alongside lab-based metrics.
Including my perspective can:
1. Highlight how traditional VO₂max protocols may underestimate certain individuals (e.g., those with speed-based endurance rather than resistance-based endurance).
2. Show the discrepancy between perceived effort and actual cardiovascular fatigue, especially in those with high autonomic regulation or unique nervous system responses.
3. Emphasize how relying only on peak HR during a resistance-limited test can mislabel true aerobic capacity — especially when I’ve repeatedly demonstrated HRs 25+ bpm higher in other contexts.
4. Advocate for more flexible and individualized interpretations of VO₂max tests in clinical, sports, and research settings — especially for people with unique metabolic, cardiovascular, or neurological profiles.
To provide context for my VO2max test result, I've included examples from my personal fitness logs. These demonstrate that my cardiovascular system is capable of sustaining high heart rates for extended periods - far beyond what was observed in the lab.
March 8, 2025
My Amazfit app stats showing that I reached a maximum heart rate of 196 bpm when I was doing walking/speedpunching cardio workout with a duration of 4 hours with an average heart rate of 151 bpm
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10162534329835901&set=a.10162534469055901
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10162534329880901&set=a.10162534469055901
March 7, 2025
My Amazfit app stats showing that I reached a maximum heart rate of 192 bpm while doing walking/speedpunching cardio workout with a duration of 2 hours, 25 minutes with an average heart rate of 157 bpm
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10162534329715901&set=a.10162534469055901
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10162534329790901&set=a.10162534469055901
Feb 22, 2025
My Amazfit app stats showing that I reached a maximum heart rate of 199 bpm while doing doing arm cardio workout with a duration of 30 minutes with an average heart rate of 171 bpm
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10162534334310901&set=a.10162534469055901
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10162534334340901&set=a.10162534469055901
Feb 26, 2025
My Amazfit app states showing that I reached a maximum heart rate of 189 bpm while doing arm cardio workout with a duration of 30 minutes with an average heart rate of 169 bpm
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10162534334295901&set=a.10162534469055901
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10162534334490901&set=a.10162534469055901
Feb 12, 2025
My Fitbit app logs of my daily maximum heart rate and resting heart rate
April 29, 2025 201 bpm maximum heart rate and 58 bpm resting heart rate
April 25, 2025 200 bpm maximum heart rate and 56 bpm resting heart rate
April 17, 2025 198 bpm maximum heart rate and 58 bpm resting heart rate
April 22, 2025 189 bpm maximum heart rate and 57 bpm heart rate
August 7, 2025 184 bpm maximum heart rate and 55 bpm resting heart rate
May 23, 2025 181 bpm maximum heart rate and 54 bpm resting heart rate
June 12, 2025 180 bpm maximum heart rate and 59 bpm resting heart rate
Washington State University — Exercise Physiology Lab
Cardiopulmonary
Exercise Test (Bike)
Client:
Scott Raymond Date/Time:
2025-08-25, 10:12
Age:
53 Height:
179 cm Weight:
69.5 kg
Summary
Your test shows:
A peak oxygen uptake (VO₂peak) of 3.29 L/min (47.3 ml/kg/min).
Averaging VO₂peak indicator of 46.7 ml/kg/min.
Breathing capacity rose appropriately with effort; peak ventilation reached about 134 L/min near the end of the final work bout.
Gas-exchange thresholds (the points where effort transitions from “comfortable steady” to “hard” and then to “very hard”) were estimated at:
VT1: ~10:01 (VO₂ ≈ 3.21 L/min).
VT2: ~10:56 (VO₂ ≈ 3.15 L/min, RER ~1.12).
Interpretation:
Below VT1 is sustainable/endurance pace; between VT1 and VT2 is strong tempo/threshold work; above VT2 is high-intensity work that can only be sustained briefly.
Variables on the test result (Excel sheet)
VO₂ (L/min): The total oxygen you use each minute. Higher values at a given power means better aerobic capacity.
VO₂ (ml/kg/min): Same as above, however, this is adjusted for body weight, allowing comparison across people and times.
VCO₂ (L/min): Carbon dioxide you produce each minute; rises as intensity and carbohydrate use increase.
RER (VCO₂/VO₂): Fuel-mix indicator. ~0.7 leans fat, ~1.0 leans carbohydrate; >1.0 suggests near-max work with extra CO₂ from buffering.
VE (L/min): Total air moved per minute (breathing throughput). Goes up with effort to deliver O₂ and remove CO₂.
VE/VO₂ & VE/VCO₂: “Ventilatory equivalents” that help locate thresholds. VE/VO₂ falls then rises at VT1; VE/VCO₂ stays flatter until VT2, where it also rises.
RR (breaths/min) & Vt (L): Breathing rate and the size of each breath. At peak, you used large breaths at a fast rate, expected for heavy work.
METS: A convenient energy-cost scale; 1 MET ≈ resting; your peak was ~13.5 METS.
FEO₂ (%) & FECO₂ (%): Percent of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your expired air; these reflect how your body extracts O₂ and eliminates CO₂.
REE (kcal/min or day): Calorie estimates based on gas exchange. (Note: these are most meaningful under strict resting conditions; during exercise they simply reflect rising energy use.)
How to read your numbers
VO₂peak (47.3 ml/kg/min): Your maximum aerobic output during this test. We also report an averaged indicator to reduce moment-to-moment noise and provide a steadier benchmark.
VT1 at ~10:01: Beginning of the “threshold zone.” Below this, most well-trained adults can hold a conversation; just above it, breathing becomes more deliberate.
VT2 at ~10:56: Onset of heavy hyperventilation; speech is broken; efforts above this are best done as intervals.
Breathing profile: Peak ventilation reached ~134 L/min, with a maximal breathing rate of ~47 breaths/min and large tidal volumes (~2.9 L), which is a normal adaptation to hard work.
Recorded Data Report
Resting values
Resting HR: 110 bpm
Resting BP: 138/102 mmHg
Resting lactate: 1.2 mmol/L
Stage progression
Stage 1 (0:30–3:00): HR rose from ~162 to 170 bpm.
Lactate at end of stage: 8.7 mmol/L.
Stage 2 (5:00–8:00): HR ~166–172 bpm.
Lactate: 10.8 mmol/L.
Stage 3 (9:00–11:30): HR peaked at ~174 bpm, then began to fall slightly. Lactate: 12.4 mmol/L
Stage 4 (14:00–14:30): HR dropped to 135–144 bpm (recovery). No lactate drawn.
Passive recovery
HR: 148 bpm after recovery
Blood pressure: 132/90 mmHg
Blood lactate: 10.1 mmol/L
Lactate Threshold Analysis
Lactate threshold (LT1): Typically identified when blood lactate rises >1 mmol/L above baseline or begins a sustained upward climb. Here, lactate jumped from 1.2 mmol/L at rest to 8.7 mmol/L after Stage 1.
This suggests LT1 occurred just below Stage 1–2 intensities.
Onset of blood lactate accumulation (OBLA, ~4 mmol/L): Achieved already at Stage 1 end (~3:00, HR ~170 bpm).
Maximal lactate accumulation: ~10 mmol/L recorded post-stage and into recovery, confirming strong glycolytic stress.
Interpretation of Numbers
Heart Rate (HR): Shows how hard your cardiovascular system works. Rapid rise to 170 bpm within Stage 1 indicates high effort early on, consistent with low-to-moderate aerobic reserve.
Blood Lactate (mmol/L): Marker of anaerobic metabolism. At rest, you were low (1.2 mmol/L), but lactate quickly spiked to 8.7 mmol/L in Stage 1, suggesting limited aerobic buffering capacity. Sustained values above 8–10 mmol/L confirm you were working near maximal glycolytic capacity.
Blood Pressure (BP): Elevated at rest (138/102 mmHg), but stabilized around 132/90 mmHg post-test. This should be monitored.
Thresholds:
LT1 (first rise): Below Stage 1.
OBLA (4 mmol/L): At Stage 1–2 (~HR 167–170 bpm).
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