VO₂max, HRV, Lab Testing: What Actually Changes Your Training | Marco Altini, Running Coach, Scientist, Founder of HRV4Training, Advisor at Oura and augo

A high VO₂max can be a sign that you are inefficient, not that you are fit.That is one of several ideas Marco Altini takes apart in this episode. Marco is co-founder of HRV4Training, an endurance coach, an advisor at Oura, and a guest lecturer at VU Amsterdam. He holds a PhD in data science and master's degrees in computer science engineering and human movement sciences. He is also Bruna's coach and an advisor to augo.We start with why he prescribes almost everything by perceived effort and almost never gives a pace or a heart rate. He explains how he brings along athletes who cannot yet read their own effort, and what he actually looks at when he analyses training data, which turns out to be far less often than most people assume.Then we get into the lab. Marco tests for running economy and substrate oxidation at race intensity, and explains why VO₂max is one of the least actionable numbers in endurance sport, using his own results as the example.We also cover what changes between a road marathon and a trail marathon, whether you can train for trails without trails, why fueling past ten hours becomes a calorie problem rather than a carbohydrate problem, and where AI genuinely helps a coach.That last part gets specific. Marco describes using augo to pull up a fueling conversation from months earlier instead of scrolling through workout comments and WhatsApp, and explains why he sees the tool as removing administrative friction rather than replacing coaching judgement.About augoaugo is an intelligent platform for endurance sports coaching. It combines coach and athlete communication, workout data from Garmin, Strava, Coros, Wahoo, Polar and Zwift, and post-session athlete feedback in a single platform, so coaches can ask a question and get an answer with full athlete context. augo surfaces which athletes need attention today, tracks wellbeing trends over time, and remembers every note, conversation and session feedback.augo is built to support coaches, not replace them. Learn more at: www.augotraining.comMore from Marco: marcoaltini.substack.com