If you usually pay attention to the VO₂max (maximum oxygen uptake) value on your sports watch, you know that even a small increase in that number means your cardiorespiratory system has undergone a transformation.
Recently, the 'Norwegian powerhouse' of triathlon — Olympic gold medallist and Ironman world champion Kristian Blummenfelt (Kristian Blummenfelt) revealed a figure that stunned the global exercise physiology community: 101.1 ml/kg/min.
How remarkable is that number? Let's take a look at some comparisons:
Recreational runners: 40–50 (healthy and regularly active)
Elite athletes: 70–80 (enough to contend in the lead pack at the Boston Marathon)
Endurance beasts: 90+ (exceedingly rare historically, e.g., top Tour de France riders)
Blumenfeld: 101.1 (the highest value recorded in controlled testing for humans)
Previously, the human physiological limit was long believed to rest at 97.5,set by Norwegian cyclist Oskar Svendsen.Other endurance giants, such as Norwegian cross-country skiing starEspen Bjerke (E. H. Bjerke) and Bjørn Dæhlie have recorded peak values around 96, while trail running's 'K' king (Kilian Jornet) is about 92.
However,much of the data for many modern elite marathoners, such as Eliud Kipchoge, is often kept confidential and not made public.Publishingsuch data can expose an athlete's strengths and weaknesses, allowing rivals to prepare counter-strategies in races.
According torenowned endurance exercise physiologist Andrew (Andrew M. Jones)research, elite maleendurance runners typically have VO₂ max values around 70–85 ml/kg/min, while elite female endurance runners, due to physiological differences from males, are typically in the 60–75 range.
32-year-old Blummenfelt has ushered humanity into the "VO₂max 100+ era."What's even more shocking is the timing of that measurement.
Normally, athletes will taper and rest ahead of a test to produce their best numbers. But Blummenfelt completed the test in the middle of a full week of heavy training—
Total training time: over 25 hours
Cycling: 300 km (including significant climbing)
Swimming: nearly 26 km
Running: daily high-intensity double sessions, sometimes triple sessions
In other words, he, despite being in a state of extreme physical fatigue, still reached the peak of human physiological metrics during testing.
Of course, good numbers don't necessarily translate to race performance. But what makes Kristian Blummenfelt soterrifying is his ability to translate his VO2 maxvalues into powerful race output.
Kristian Blummenfelthas won Tokyo Olympic gold and the 2021 Triathlon World Championship, and he finished that race with a marathon time of 2:38 after the bike leg.
This 101.1 test result finally reveals one of the physiological secrets behind his dominant strength. It also reminds us that the upper limit of human aerobic endurance may be far greater than previously imagined.
Seeing 101.1, when you look at the pulsing VO₂max number on your watch again, doesn't it feel different? What's your VO₂max?
