Ep. 63 - Why Your Smartwatch's VO2 Max Is Wrong With Daniel Crumback

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Wearables and influencers have made VO2 max a household term but most of what's being said about it is misleading, oversimplified, or flat-out wrong. In this episode, Dr. Marc Humbert sits down with Daniel Crumback Director of International Sales at KORR, certified exercise physiologist, chartered physiotherapist, and strength and conditioning specialist to cut through the noise around VO2 max, zone training, and metabolic testing.

Daniel breaks down why devices measuring O2 only can't actually calculate a true VO2 max, why a high VO2 max doesn't mean someone is metabolically healthy, and how misapplied protocols like the Norwegian 4x4 can do more harm than good when they ignore an individual's actual limiters. Using a real case study a high-performing executive whose cardiovascular numbers looked great but whose metabolic health was quietly falling apart Daniel shows why testing without proper analysis is nearly worthless.

You Will Learn:

• Why VO2 max and VO2 peak are not the same thing, and why that distinction matters
• Why O2-only devices can't truly measure VO2 max (and what gets lost in the algorithm)
• How to identify which system — cardiovascular, respiratory, or metabolic — is actually limiting performance
• Why "zone two" and "zone five" training aren't competing philosophies but serve different physiological purposes
• What near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) can and can't tell you about performance
• Why lactate testing has real limits — and where marketing claims cross into dishonesty
• How AI-generated fitness advice can sound convincing while being physiologically inaccurate
• Why testing to the modality (rather than testing to find true limitations) leads to bad programming
• How proper zoning through metabolic testing can prevent long-term issues like metabolic disease
• What separates a trustworthy fitness expert from an untrustworthy one (hint: they say "it depends")