One of the main reasons that aerobic athletic performance declines with age is that the body becomes less effective at utilizing oxygen. The maximal ability to utilize oxygen can be measured by VO2max, an assessment of how much oxygen your body can use per kilogram of body weight. As a result, a high VO2max will indicate that a person can effectively utilize oxygen, which is often seen in well-trained endurance athletes.

Unfortunately, after the age of 30, VO2max will begin to decline. For non-athletes, VO2max tends to decline by about 10% every decade. However, athletes who continue their rigorous training can reduce the decline to only 5% every decade. The main reason that VO2max declines with age is because the maximal heart rate (max HR) decreases as well.

Cardiac output is defined as the volume of blood pumped, per minute, by each ventricle of the heart. Of all the measures of cardiovascular performance, cardiac output likely has the biggest impact. It is a direct measure of the body’s ability to deliver oxygen to starving muscles. An increase in cardiac output without an increase in heart rate is favored as this demonstrates increased capacity of the ventricles and the vascular system and not just on the frequency of the heartbeat.

Because cardiac output is the product of stroke volume and maximal heart rate, a decrease in max HR will directly decrease cardiac output, and in turn, oxygen delivery to the muscles. This translates to a lower VO2max and decreased athletic endurance with age. Fortunately, vitamin K2 appears to improve cardiac output by maintaining healthy mitochondrial function.

In the aforementioned University study, the group receiving MyoMax® saw more than a 13% increase in cardiac output and a steady increase at all exercise stages. With over a 13% increase in cardiac output in just 8 weeks of supplementation using MyoMax®, an athlete can experience a significant change in performance at every heart rate zone, including maximum capacity. With over 900 more liters of oxygenated blood pumping through the body in a single 24 hour period, athletes can experience a significant improvement in recovery.