VO2 Max machine unveiled for all athletes

The National Sports Medicine Centre under the umbrella of the Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC), has recently imported a VO2 Max, a revolutionary device in a unique initiative, providing modern solutions for all athletes across the kingdom.

This first-of-its-kind Italian made machine measures maximum volume of oxygen that an athlete can use. It is measured in millilitres per kilogramme of body weight per minute and is in line with the strategy of the BOC, aimed to provide quality service through its National Sports Medicine Centre, whose director Dr Khalid Al Shaikh.

Al Shaikh explained the functionality of this state-of-the-art machine, “As you increase your effort when you exercise, the amount of oxygen you consume to produce energy (and hence the rate at which you exhale carbon dioxide) increases,” he said.

“However, there is a maximum level of oxygen consumption, beyond which increases in exercise intensity don’t lead to further increases in oxygen consumption. This level of oxygen consumption is called the VO2 max”. He said the VO2 Max is a key physiological determinant of an athlete’s running performance, and that it is an important objective of a training programme to improve it and believes that VO2 Max, being tested by National Sports Medicine Centre doctor Vladimir Surez of Cuba.