Geeky Yet Waterproof

VO₂ max refers to the maximum amount of oxygen your body can process during exercise. To test your VO₂ max, you have to exercise at an increasing intensity, until you basically drop. This is usually done while breathing into weird Martian tubes connected to a computer so it can measure how much oxygen is left in your exhalations. Normally, you have use a machine relevant to your sport; i.e. runners use a treadmill, cyclists use a stationary bike, and swimmers use… an arm crank.

The arm crank is supposed to simulate swimming, but it doesn’t (unless your sport is dog-paddle). So a new machine has been developed which is supposed to simulate swimming better than the arm crank.



Ten of us Bearcats have been selected to test the new machine, to find out whether it really does simulate swimming more accurately than the arm crank. We’re doing two VO₂ max tests: one with the arm crank (Monark) and one with the new machine (Vasa). The Vasa is supposed to give a higher VO₂ max value, since it uses a wider ranger of motion and therefore more muscles.


My first test (with the arm crank) lasted about 12 minutes, and the second one (with the Vasa) lasted about 23 minutes. The first test wasn’t all that hard, but the second one was almost as bad as in the movies.

As it turned out, the arm crank yielded 3.8 liters per minute in my testing, while the Vasa showed 4.6 liters per minute. (That doesn’t mean I have any idea what these numbers mean.) But anyway, what they were trying to prove was true: that the Vasa is a better swimming simulator than the Monark.



And as our reward, we’ll be recognized in some document saying “…ten swimmers have been selected for a study…;. We know who we are.