Hi all,
I have had my VO2max, Anaerobic Threshold etc tested by Dr.Betsy Keller at Ithaca. She follows the protocol developed by the Pacific Fatigue Lab(?) that was the original 2 day CPET test protocol for ME/CFS patients and has written a/some papers regarding ME/CFS and PEM. She is now becoming one of our best ME/CFS research docs.
From what I understand, it is all very complicated and complex to calculate the VO2max and other things and requires quite a bit of data, a lot of equipment that is set up in a precise way. I did the 2 days of testing but Dr Keller could not just look at the data immediately and say what was wrong. It all had to be analyzed in a certain way ( don't ask me how or what).
It's actually very simple to read these tests, very easy to interpret them. I think they are blowing smoke at you. Ask them for your raw VO2Max data and copy and paste that here and we'll help you understand it.
The points of interest in these tests:
* At what workload and pulse rates are you aerobic, and specifically where are you burning fat? VCO2/VO2 (named RER on the test column) will be around 0.70 when this is happening.
* When do you reach aerobic threshold, which is typically when RER ~= 0.95
* When do you go into full on glycolysis, which is your VO2Max, when RER ~=1.05
* When do you exhaust exercise capacity, which is the point where additional work does not increase VCO2. They may not test that given your condition as it will increase your exhaustion.
VO2Max is not calculated. VO2Max is simply the VO2 level on the report that corresponds to your reaching glycolysis.