What is the difference between VO₂ Max Testing and Endurance Performance Profiling?

The VO₂ Max Test is one continuous maximal test with breath-by-breath gas analysis: aerobic capacity, the ventilatory thresholds and measured maximum heart rate. Endurance Performance Profiling runs two tests in one appointment — a progressive blood lactate profile first, then, after a short recovery, the maximal test. That gives you the lactate curve and both lactate thresholds with the speeds and heart rates that go with them, alongside the ventilatory responses. The VO₂ Max Test is £200; Endurance Performance Profiling is £300.

Do I need lactate testing, or is VO₂ max enough?

If you train by heart-rate or pace zones and want them set from measurement rather than a formula, VO₂ Max Testing gives you that. Blood lactate adds a second, independent read on the same boundaries, which matters most when the training decision is expensive — a marathon build, an ultra, or a block you are committing months to.

How far before my event should I test?

Commonly 10 to 14 weeks out, which leaves time to train on the zones before race day, with an optional second assessment 3 to 4 weeks out to confirm whether they have moved. Testing in the final fortnight still produces accurate measurements but leaves little opportunity to act on them.

Can I book an assessment without coaching?

Yes. Every assessment is a standalone service. You receive the written report and are free to apply it yourself or hand it to your own coach.

Where does testing take place?

At UNTIL Liverpool Street, 280 Bishops Square, London EC2M 4RB, or UNTIL Marylebone, 1 Orchard Street, London W1H 6HJ. Every assessment is available at both, by appointment.

Endurance testing · London

Which endurance test do you need?

Four assessments cover endurance at DVOTION Labs, and most athletes need one of them rather than all four. This is the comparison: what each one measures, what it leaves out, and which answers the question you came with.

Choose by what you want to know.

Each one says what it returns and, just as usefully, what it does not.

VO₂ Max Test

£200 · 1 hour

Choose this if You want your aerobic ceiling and your training zones, and would rather not have a blood sample taken.

VO₂ max
VT1 and VT2, from breathing
Measured maximum heart rate
Five training zones

No blood sample, so the lactate thresholds are not measured — only the ventilatory ones.

Full details

Endurance Performance Profiling

£300 · 60–90 minutes

Choose this if Your event is decided by the intensity you can hold, and you want both threshold systems measured so they can be read against each other.

VO₂ max
LT1 and LT2, from blood
VT1 and VT2, from breathing
Zones in heart rate and pace or power

Covers physiology only — not movement, force production or fluid losses.

Full details

Complete Athlete Profiling

£837 · 3 hours

Choose this if Your question spans more than physiology, and a movement or force finding might explain something the numbers alone do not.

Everything Endurance Performance Profiling returns
Movement strategy
Force plate data
One report written across all four

The sweat and hydration work is a separate session. It is included in Complete Athlete Profiling and can also be booked on its own.

Full details

Sweat & Hydration Assessment

£150 · 60–90 minutes

Choose this if Your pacing is settled and fuelling is the problem — long events, warm races, or a history of finishing dehydrated.

Sweat rate per hour
Sweat sodium concentration
Estimated sodium loss per hour
A fluid and sodium range to practise

Measures nothing about aerobic capacity or thresholds.

Full details

Choose by your event.

What the distance asks of you, and where a measurement changes the answer.

Marathon

Start with Endurance Performance Profiling

Decided almost entirely by the intensity you can hold for the duration, and by fuelling across it. The thresholds set your pace; add Sweat & Hydration Assessment if the race is warm or you have had fuelling problems before.

Ultramarathon

Start with Endurance Performance Profiling

Almost the whole race sits below the first threshold, which makes the accuracy of that boundary matter more than the VO₂ max figure. Hydration and sodium losses matter more here than at any shorter distance.

Cycling and time trial

Start with Endurance Performance Profiling

Testing on the ergometer gives zones in watts, which apply directly to structured sessions and an indoor trainer. An FTP test estimates threshold from one sustained effort; this measures it.

Triathlon

Start with Endurance Performance Profiling, per discipline

Zones do not transfer cleanly between running and cycling, because the muscle mass involved and the mechanical demand differ. Athletes who want accurate zones for both test each separately, a week or more apart.

HYROX and hybrid

Start with Endurance Performance Profiling, or the full profile

These alternate sustained running with repeated high-intensity work, so the region above the second threshold matters as much as the sustainable pace below it. If your limiter feels muscular rather than aerobic, Complete Athlete Profiling adds the force and movement picture.

A first structured block

Start with VO₂ Max Testing or Endurance Performance Profiling

A baseline taken before a block begins gives the block reference points, and gives a later test something to be compared against. Without a starting measurement, a second test describes your physiology but not the change in it.

Questions we get asked.

What is the difference between VO₂ Max Testing and Endurance Performance Profiling?: The VO₂ Max Test is one continuous maximal test with breath-by-breath gas analysis: aerobic capacity, the ventilatory thresholds and measured maximum heart rate. Endurance Performance Profiling runs two tests in one appointment — a progressive blood lactate profile first, then, after a short recovery, the maximal test. That gives you the lactate curve and both lactate thresholds with the speeds and heart rates that go with them, alongside the ventilatory responses. The VO₂ Max Test is £200; Endurance Performance Profiling is £300.
Do I need lactate testing, or is VO₂ max enough?: If you train by heart-rate or pace zones and want them set from measurement rather than a formula, VO₂ Max Testing gives you that. Blood lactate adds a second, independent read on the same boundaries, which matters most when the training decision is expensive — a marathon build, an ultra, or a block you are committing months to.
How far before my event should I test?: Commonly 10 to 14 weeks out, which leaves time to train on the zones before race day, with an optional second assessment 3 to 4 weeks out to confirm whether they have moved. Testing in the final fortnight still produces accurate measurements but leaves little opportunity to act on them.
Can I book an assessment without coaching?: Yes. Every assessment is a standalone service. You receive the written report and are free to apply it yourself or hand it to your own coach.
Where does testing take place?: At UNTIL Liverpool Street, 280 Bishops Square, London EC2M 4RB, or UNTIL Marylebone, 1 Orchard Street, London W1H 6HJ. Every assessment is available at both, by appointment.

Still not sure?

Send your event, your training week and the question you want answered. We will tell you which assessment answers it — or that none of them do.

Enquire All assessments

Organisation

DVOTION

Performance Lab · London

Liverpool Street

UNTIL Liverpool Street

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Marylebone

UNTIL Marylebone

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