If your sport is built on bursts and recoveries, is a bigger engine always better—or just good enough?
If you play an intermittent high-intensity sport—soccer, football, basketball, hockey, rugby, MMA—you’ve probably asked:
“How important is my VO₂ Max, really? I’m not running a marathon.”
You’re right—your sport isn’t about holding a steady pace. It’s about repeated explosions: a 20-yard sprint, a wrestling scramble, a fast break, a tackle, a cut and re-acceleration.
But here’s the catch: while you don’t compete at VO₂ Max, you recover under it.
The bigger your aerobic engine, the faster you recharge between sprints, the more consistently you can hit near-max outputs, and the less your performance falls off late in the game.
Two currencies: burst power and recovery speed
Every sprint draws on your ATP–PCr system—the body’s quick-draw energy store. It’s almost entirely anaerobic and almost entirely gone in ~6–10 seconds. To go again, you need to recharge that PCr, and that happens aerobically, using oxygen.
That’s where VO₂ Max comes in: higher capacity → faster PCr resynthesis → shorter time to full power again [1,2].
What repeat-sprint ability really is
Repeat-Sprint Ability (RSA) isn’t your best sprint—it’s your ability to keep producing high outputs with short recoveries. Measured in the lab or in field tests like the Yo-Yo IR2 or 30-15 IFT, it’s often expressed as:
Total work: how much distance or power you produce over all reps
Fatigue index: how much you slow down from your best rep
RSA depends on:
Peak anaerobic power (ATP–PCr system)
Aerobic recovery capacity (VO₂ Max, mitochondrial density)
Lactate clearance and buffering (ventilatory/lactate thresholds)
Neuromuscular resilience (technique under fatigue) [3–5]
VO₂ Max’s role—and its limits
Higher VO₂ Max shortens recovery windows between sprints [2,6]. It also speeds lactate clearance, keeping acid-base balance from sabotaging muscle contraction [4].
But it’s not the whole story:
Two players can have the same VO₂ Max, but the one with better RSA—through stronger neuromuscular endurance, anaerobic capacity, and sport-specific conditioning—will win more late-game plays.
At elite levels, once VO₂ Max is “high enough” (e.g., mid-60s ml·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹ in pro soccer [7]), further gains don’t always translate into better RSA unless paired with targeted sprint-repeat work [1,8].
The game inside the game: “time to power drop”
Most players (and even some coaches) fixate on peak sprint speed. But in intermittent sports, the metric that matters is time to power drop—how long you can keep delivering near-max outputs before fatigue forces you down a gear.
That’s where RSA testing beats one-off sprints. And where your VO₂ Max, ventilatory thresholds, and sport-specific repeat work intersect:
Higher VO₂ Max → faster between-sprint recovery
Higher VT2 → more sustainable high outputs before fatigue
Better RSA-specific training → slower performance decay within a match [4,5,8]
Practical programming: when to push VO₂ Max vs RSA
If your VO₂ Max is low for your sport/position
You’ll fade faster in repeat efforts.
Focus: 2–3×/week aerobic base (Zone 2) + 1–2×/week Zone 4 intervals (3–5 min).
If VO₂ Max is solid but RSA lags
You’re fit but can’t repeat sprints without drop-off.
Focus: 1–2×/week repeat-sprint sets (e.g., 6–10×30 m with 20–30 s rest), small-sided games, and change-of-direction drills under fatigue.
If both are strong
Maintain both qualities, adjust based on in-season game load.
Where DexaFit comes in
Not all gas tanks are equal. A DexaFit VO₂ Max test tells you:
Ceiling (VO₂ Max) → how much oxygen you can use
Ventilatory thresholds → where you sustain vs fade
Optional lactate testing (some locations) → confirm thresholds and track clearance capacity
Pair that with RSA field testing (Yo-Yo IR2, 30-15 IFT) and you get a complete picture: engine size, usable range, and drop-off rate. That’s actionable for programming, not just a number for the fridge.
Final thought
If your sport is built on repeated bursts, your VO₂ Max is less about cruising speed and more about recovery speed. Raise it until it’s no longer the limiter, then sharpen your RSA so your late-game performance looks like your first-minute performance.
The scoreboard won’t care about your lab number—but your ability to keep showing up to the next play, at full tilt, will.
References
Bishop D, Girard O, Mendez-Villanueva A. Repeated-sprint ability—Part II: recommendations for training. Sports Med. 2011;41(9):741-756.
Bogdanis GC, Nevill ME, Boobis LH, Lakomy HK. Recovery of power output and muscle metabolites following 30 s of maximal sprint cycling in man. J Physiol. 1995;482(Pt 2):467-80.
Spencer M, Bishop D, Dawson B, Goodman C. Physiological and metabolic responses of repeated-sprint activities: specific to field-based team sports. Sports Med. 2005;35(12):1025-1044.
Buchheit M, Laursen PB. High-intensity interval training, solutions to the programming puzzle. Sports Med. 2013;43(5):313-338.
Rampinini E, Impellizzeri FM, Castagna C, Coutts AJ, Wisløff U. Technical performance during soccer matches of the Italian Serie A league: effect of fatigue and competitive level. J Sci Med Sport. 2009;12(1):227-233.
Dupont G, Millet GP, Guinhouya C, Berthoin S. Relationship between oxygen uptake kinetics and performance in repeated running sprints. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2005;95(1):27-34.
Iaia FM, Rampinini E, Bangsbo J. High-intensity training in football. Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2009;4(3):291-306.
Buchheit M, Mendez-Villanueva A, Simpson BM, Bourdon PC. Repeated-sprint sequences during youth soccer matches. Int J Sports Med. 2010;31(10):709-716.
Gabbett TJ. The training–injury prevention paradox: should athletes be training smarter and harder? Br J Sports Med. 2016;50(5):273-280.
Girard O, Lattier G, Micallef JP, Millet GP. Neuromuscular fatigue in tennis. Neurol Clin. 2008;26(1):181-194.
