Spirometry + VO₂max Testing: The Diagnostic Combo That’s Changing Athletic Performance

Introduction

If you had asked me even a year ago if it were worth the money for my athletes to get a VO₂max test I would have said no. I even wrote a blog about it, HERE! At that time, as far as I knew, what you got from a VO₂max test was your training zones and your VO₂max score. There was never any action plan that came with that test that would improve an athlete in a meaningful way that could justify the costs in my mind.

Yes the training zones were more accurate than doing a field test, and it's kinda cool to know your VO₂max but, I could get all of the data that I need to coach my athletes effectively from a 20 min threshold test that they could run on their own for free. So as an endurance coach for 10 years I never recommended that any of my athletes spend the money on testing.

What Changed My Mind

All of that changed in 2025, after dealing with respiratory, cardiovascular and cognitive issues as a result of long covid. This was a condition that no standard form of medical care and testing that I was receiving was helping me improve. This is what led me to O₂ max and a deep dive into all things respiratory and metabolic training. 

Now I am going to share with you what I learned and why I now recommend this testing for everyone that has a set of lungs and breathes air, not just elite level olympic athletes.

A VO₂max test is so much more than just getting your training zones and your VO₂max score when you know how to use all of the data that you get from the test. Unfortunately almost no one knows that this data is even there or what it means. 

What Do I Mean by Spirometry?

Spirometry is a quick, non-invasive test that measures how well your lungs are actually working. You take a deep breath and blow into a device called a spirometer as hard and fast as you can - the whole thing takes just a few minutes.

The test measures two key things: how much air your lungs can hold (lung capacity) and how quickly air moves through your airways (airflow). Together, these numbers reveal whether your airways are restricted, whether your lung capacity is below where it should be for your age and size, and whether there are breathing limitations silently holding back your performance - even if you've never felt short of breath during exercise.

Many athletes, including highly trained ones, have breathing limitations they're completely unaware of. Spirometry makes those visible so you can get the full value out of the VO₂max test. This is an assessment of your lung health. It tells us things like how big your lung capacity is, and how healthy your airways are. This is critical information if you want to understand how efficient your body is working across all of your training zones. You can’t use a VO₂max test to evaluate your breathing efficiency unless you have the spirometer test. Most clinics are sleeping on this, but not Vital.

With this information, we can then use the data from your VO₂max test to understand how your breathing in each training zone, compared to how you should be breathing to absorb the most amount of oxygen, burn the most amount of fat in your zone 2, and how to even delay your lactate threshold (VT2). How you breathe affects all of those things and once it's measured on this test, it's actually not that hard to fix.  

The Breathing Foundations Program

So what is the plan to fix what shows up in the test you ask? Up until now, there was no plan, you just went home with your VO₂max score and your training zones. Now with the new partnership between Vital and O₂ max you can get a Breathing Foundations program, which is designed to fix all of your limitations. It's a 6 month program that slides right in with your normal training, where you learn how to breathe correctly to extract the most amount of oxygen and maximize your efficiency across all training zones. Once you have this unlocked, you have it for life and you will never go back to your old way of breathing. 

My Personal Results

In my personal experience even while dealing with chronic illness My VO₂max went from a 54, to a 62 ml/kg/min without doing any serious running training, my lung capacity went from 4.78L to 5.95 L. These are unheard of improvements. The biggest thing I think that really helped me during this time  was regulating my nervous system, my HRV score went from 41 to 65. And these are just a few of my stats which improved using this program. Improvements this big in just a few short months are unheard of, and we are seeing it all the time with similar results with everyone who signs up for this program and puts in the work to make these changes. On average we are seeing a boost in VO₂max for 10-15% in all athletes taking this program. This is huge guys. This is something that you don’t normally get with years of intense training, and we are doing this by just fixing your breathing. 

Now you understand, booking a VO₂max test is not just about seeing your VO₂max score and getting your training zones. It's actually a really powerful diagnostic tool that can unlock your full true potential when paired with the Breathing Foundations Program. You also now know that anyone not currently offering a spirometer test with their VO₂max assessment doesn’t understand the full value of VO₂max testing and how to use the data to drive real performance changes not just in athletes, but in everyone. 

Book Your Testing at Vital in Calgary

Vital Performance Care offers VO₂max testing plus spirometry (no additional cost for spirometry). Just make a note when you book that you would like spirometry included. Book your testing HERE. 

Want to learn more? Book a 15-min complimentary consult call with Carla from Vital Performance Care to discuss if this testing could be right for you.