VO2Max % Calculator

If you read much training literature, you will likely come across training prescriptions like "steady state efforts at 65-75% of VO2max lasting 45 to 120 minutes to repeated 'Anaerobic Threshold work' at 80-90% of VO2max for 15 to 30 minutes." (Source: Stephen Seiler) And exercise physiology research is replete with references to VO2max like: "the best single predictor of 2000 m rowing ergometer performance was power at VO(2max)."

Most of us have not been lab-tested to ascertain our VO2max (fyi, that's peak oxygen consumption,  how much oxygen we actually use), and therefore we probably don't know what 100% of VO2max is or 90% or 80%. These references are relatively meaningless to us.

What does 70%, 80%, 90% of VO2max intensity mean for me?
Fortunately, some researchers like Stephen Seiler, a rower, have figured out that VO2max intensity is roughly associated with the power (watts) during a 2k all out effort on the rowing ergometer. Seiler, in an email conversation, wrote: "Bottom line use 2k power as VO2max power..." Separately, Steve Ingham, an exercise physiology researcher, wrote to me: "our observations suggest that the rowers do reach VO2max when they perform 2000m ergometer tests." Finally, Fritz Hagerman, noted rowing researcher, also emailed me with a similar conclusion. These statements, which in all cases are probably the result of looking at a lot of empirical data, do not, in themselves, constitute research results showing that a 2000m ergometer test is a proxy for VO2max intensity. I'm hoping that Steve Ingham will pursue that line of inquiry, and I think he may already have the data. In the mean time, I have cooked up a calculator based on just this notion.

Here's how it works:

1. Let's say my 2000m time is 6:53.0 (it used to be...). I enter this in the calculator below and hit the "Calculate" button.
2. This calculates my watts and 500m splits for various intensities, e.g., 100% VO2max intensity for me is roughly 318 watts and a 500/m split of 1:43.3. Is this an accurate estimate of my VO2max? I don't have good evidence that it is; take it with a generous dose of salt. Like my 2K time...

Questions for the future:

1. How does this notion (2000m pace or power as proxy for VO2max intensity) compare with other proxies like heart rate reserve?
2. How individually variable is, say, 80% VO2max with physiological measurements like lactate? In other words, is one person's 80% VO2max below lactate threshold, while another's 80% VO2max is well above lactate threshold? And, what consequences follow?