Chapter 1
Up and down
From 2020 to 2024 I lifted weights and walked most days. VO2 Max swung from a low of in to a high of in .
Every high slipped back. Over the five years it averaged , below average for my age the whole time.
Apple Health data · Jan 2020 to Oct 2026
Paddling to a fitter heart
Strength and walking kept me steady. Running gave me a spike that faded. Dragon boat is the first thing that made the gain stick.
VO2 Max, 2025 plateau
VO2 Max,
VO2 Max, 2025 to 2026 average
or scroll to read at your own pace
What is VO2 Max?
VO2 Max is the most oxygen your body can use during hard exercise, in millilitres per kilo of body weight per minute. It is one of the best single measures of heart and lung fitness. Higher is fitter.
Apple Watch estimates it from heart rate and pace on outdoor walks, runs and hikes. The Health app rates it against people of the same age and sex: Low, Below average, Above average or High. The coloured band is Above average for each age group.
Above averageAbove the band: HighBelow it: Low or below average
Exercise minutes per month
Every 30 minutes of training, 8 months before and 8 months since paddling
Average minutes a month, by exercise
Cumulative change in VO2 Max, month by month
Each step is the change in monthly average VO2 Max from the month before. Hours = dragon boat time that month.
months below average, Jan 2024 to Feb 2026
months above average since Mar 2026
Apple Health cardio fitness level each month, men
Levels: Apple Health ranges for men 40 to 49. Low and Below average are grouped.
Link score with VO2 Max: 1 = moves in step, 0 = no link
3-month rolling, Jul 2024 to Oct 2026. Same-month score in brackets.
0sessions
0km paddled
0hours on the water
One bar per outdoor session, in date order. Height is distance in km.
- Observed Fact: dragon boat minutes move with VO2 Max (link score ). No other exercise does.
- Strong Inference: paddling is the most likely driver of the 2026 rise. It is the only training that changed.
- Caveat: 28 months of data, and much of the link is a before and after step. VO2 Max is an Apple Watch estimate from outdoor walks and runs.
Chapter 2
The plateau
Strength sessions, daily walks, some cardio. From Jan to Aug 2025, VO2 Max averaged .
Steady work. No change.
Chapter 3
The false start
In Sep and Oct 2025 I ran more. VO2 Max jumped to in Oct.
Then the running dropped off. By Feb 2026 it was back to .
Chapter 4
First paddle
. First dragon boat session: km in minutes.
A new layer joins the training mix.
Chapter 5
The climb that stuck
From Mar to Oct 2026, VO2 Max averaged and hit in Oct, the highest since records began in .
Training rose from to hours a month, and the extra came from the boat.
Chapter 6
Month by month
Start at the 2025 plateau of . Before paddling, the running spike left a net by Feb 2026.
The paddling months added more, rising in of months, to reach .
Coloured steps are months with dragon boat training. The chart shows when the gains came. It doesn't prove the boat caused each one.
Chapter 7
From below to above average
Apple Health rates cardio fitness against people of the same age and sex. For men in their 40s, above average starts at .
From 2020 to Feb 2026 I sat below average. Since Mar 2026, months have been above average, first in .
Levels are Apple Health's own ranges for men aged 40 to 49. Above average runs from 38 to 47, High is 48 and over.
Chapter 8
Only one thing changed
Dragon boat went from 0 to minutes a month.
Strength, walking and other cardio stayed flat or fell.
Chapter 9
Paddling and fitness go together
There's a strong link between dragon boating and my cardio fitness. The more I paddled, the higher my VO2 Max went. My biggest paddling months had my highest readings.
Nothing else I did shows that pattern. Strength barely tracks it. Walking and other cardio go slightly the other way.
The link score runs from −1 to 1. Dragon boat scores , close to a perfect match. Strength scores , close to no link. A link shows the two move together. On its own it doesn't prove one causes the other.
Chapter 10
The volume behind it
sessions, km, hours since 15 Feb. A typical session runs minutes.
Regatta day, 11 Oct: races, km, average heart rate bpm.
Chapter 11
If the habits hold
Since Mar 2026 VO2 Max has risen about a month. Keep paddling the same way and it reaches about by and by .
Gains usually slow as fitness rises, so treat the top of each range as optimistic.
Chapter 12
The result
VO2 Max is up on the 2025 plateau, .
The highest it has been since , and still climbing.