Personal Trainer Reveals the Weekly Workout Split Proven to Boost VO2 Max for Men Over 40
If you’ve been working on improving your VO2 max for a while but notice your smartwatch number barely moves (or just bounces between the same few numbers), you’re certainly not alone. VO2 max is the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use during intense exercise. It’s one of the strongest markers of cardiovascular fitness, metabolic health, and longevity. And since it naturally declines by about 5 to 10 percent per decade after the age of 30, it makes sense that so many people have started paying closer attention to it.
But improving your own VO2 max takes more than occasional random intervals sprinkled into your cardio workouts. To better understand how to structure training to boost your VO2 max, we tapped Mark Kovacs, PhD, FACSM, CSCS, a human performance and longevity expert who has served as vice president of health and performance for Canyon Ranch, director of the Gatorade Sports Science Institute, and senior director of sport science & health for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
"One of the most common errors is turning VO2 max sessions into repeated all-out efforts. That shifts the stimulus away from central cardiovascular adaptations toward glycolytic fatigue, which is not the goal," Kovacs says. "The objective is controlled, repeatable exposure to near-maximal oxygen uptake. If you can sustain consistent output across intervals and recover adequately within 24 to 48 hours, you’re hitting the optimal training dose."
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For men over 40 looking to improve VO2 max both safely and effectively, the key is organizing your workout split in a way that supports both intensity and recovery. According to Kovacs, the most effective structure is a polarized or pyramidal model.
That kind of approach would look something like this:
- ~70–80 percent low-intensity aerobic work (Zone 2)
- ~20–30 percent high-intensity work (VO2 max intervals)
- 2 to 3 days of strength training focused on neuromuscular efficiency and force production
In practice, that could look like two dedicated VO2 max interval sessions per week, two to three aerobic base sessions, and one to two strength sessions.
"For most men in their 40s and 50s, one to two VO2 max sessions per week is sufficient. More is not necessarily better. What matters is the quality of time spent near VO2 max, and the ability to repeat that stimulus week after week," Kovacs explains.
After 40, recovery kinetics change, so the spacing of high-intensity days becomes especially important. When structured properly, this kind of workout split can help optimize central adaptations like stroke volume and cardiac output, while also maintaining peripheral adaptations like improved energy production and blood flow within the muscles.