Another VO2max Test – Van Wilder

I’ve got another friend, call him Van Wilder, who got his VO2max tested. He’s a 35 year old triathlete who has done an Ironman and marathons. He has about five years of running training. He did the Ironman fat adapted with very few carbs during the event. He’s recently gotten off the Low Carb bandwagon, at least partly. He is still lower carb.

Van Wilder’s VO2max came in at a respectable 59.8. That puts him within 5% of the elite athletes like Zach Bitter and Ben Greenfield. Van Wilder’s max fat oxidation rate is very close to the top levels measured in FASTER  (Jeff S. Volek, Daniel J. Freidenreich, Catherine Saenz, Laura J. Kunces, Brent C. Creighton, Jenna M. Bartley, Patrick M. Davitt, Colleen X. Munoz, Jeffrey M. Anderson, Carl M. Maresh, Elaine C. Lee, Mark D. Schuenke, Giselle Aerni, William J. Kraemer, Stephen D. Phinney. Metabolic characteristics of keto-adapted ultra-endurance runners. Metabolism, Volume 65, Issue 3, March 2016, Pages 100-110.).

Here’s Van Wilder’s %VO2max vs Fat and Carbs Oxidation rates (in kcal/min).

At his peak he’s burning somewhere around 12 kCals a minute of fat. At the end Van Wilder is burning more than 22 kCals a minute of carbohydrates. His point where he’s burning 50% fat-50% carbs is at 80% of his VO2max. His peak fat oxidation is around 58% of VO2max. However, the point where he start burning carbs is relatively low at 45% of VO2max.

Compare his data with mine. I am fat adapted and only eat keto/low carb. I’m also 23 years older and not as trained by a long stretch.

Here’s the differences:

I would like to suggest that the main difference is found in the last row. My rate at which is expend no carbs and burn the most fat is at about 59% of my VO2max. Van Wilder’s point is about 43% of his VO2max.

Now my VO2max at 34.1 is significantly lower than Van Wilder’s at 59.8. And that probably explains a lot of the difference above. Van Wilder still looks to me like an efficient fat burner. Especially when compared to Damian Stoy.

Competition Fueling Strategies for Van Wilder?

What should the fueling strategy be for Van Wilder? Seems like he currently has the advantage of metabolic flexibility. He can certainly use fat for fuel at lower intensities.