V02Test Checkout

VO₂ testing (often called a “cardiorespiratory fitness test”) measures how effectively your body can take in oxygen from the air, move it through the heart and lungs, and use it in working muscle during exercise. In simple terms, it quantifies your aerobic engine.

During a graded exercise test, we measure your breathing to calculate key markers such as:

- VO₂ (oxygen uptake) across increasing intensities (including VO₂max/peak, where appropriate)

- Ventilatory thresholds (often used to identify sustainable vs hard training intensities)

- Heart rate and training zones based on your physiology, not generic formulas

- Efficiency and economy indicators (how much oxygen you use for a given workload)

The outcome is a clear, personalised fitness profile that helps you train with more precision - whether your goal is improved health, fat loss, a faster 5K, or performance in sport.

While this type of assessment has traditionally been performed in hospital, university, or elite sport environments, modern laboratory-grade technology now allows the same style of comprehensive testing to be delivered in a more accessible setting, without compromising on quality or clarity of results.

VO₂ testing is performed as a graded exercise test on a treadmill/Bike or Rowing Erg. You’ll wear a breathing mask connected to our metabolic analyser (to measure oxygen uptake and carbon dioxide output), and a heart-rate monitor to capture your cardiovascular response throughout the test.

Here’s what to expect:

- Warm-up & setup: We fit the mask and heart-rate monitor and confirm everything is comfortable and sealed correctly.

- Progressive stages: The treadmill intensity increases at 1-minute intervals by adjusting speed and/or incline. This gradually raises your oxygen consumption, breathing rate, and heart rate in a controlled way.

Test duration: The test can be as short as ~4 minutes and up to ~24 minutes, depending on the protocol and your current fitness. Most people fall somewhere in the middle.

Effort level: You’ll continue until you reach voluntary maximal effort (i.e., you choose to stop because you’re at your limit). This is not a “how long can you suffer” test - it’s a structured ramp designed to safely reach your true limit.

Recovery monitoring: When you stop, we record a ~2-minute recovery while you remain connected, as recovery data can be useful for interpretation.

Results review: Once you’re comfortable, we’ll take you through your key outcomes (e.g., VO₂, thresholds, and training zones) and explain how to apply them to your training.

To ensure your VO₂ results are as accurate and repeatable as possible, please follow the guidance below:

- No food for 2 hours before your test.
- Avoid tea/coffee and any calorie-containing drinks. Water is fine.

- Avoid stimulants for 2 hours before testing: this includes caffeine and nicotine (cigarettes/vapes).

- No exercise on the day of your test.
Training can elevate heart rate and ventilation and may affect test outcomes.

We use a Wahoo Kickr Bike for best accuracy and fit

For best results, please bring your own cleats which we will fit and your own cycling shoes

We can supply simple basket pedals, but cleats and shoes provide the most accurate results.

We require at least 24 hours’ notice to cancel or reschedule without charge.

Cancellations within 24 hours or non-attendance (no-show) are charged at 100%.

If you have an unexpected issue, please use the link provided when you register to reschedule.