I just got a great deal at my LBS on a 720i and raced home to check out the OwnIndex feature that predicts your Vo2max. Mine said 61. How reliable is this test compared with a clinical test. Also, at 17 how much can I expect my vo2 to improve? I have been aerobically active for the past few years, but just started structured training for mtb racing i have just started at the sport level. any help would be great. The altitude also seems to get out of whack when i am inside. Any comments??

can anyone help me out with this? thanks.

Altitude is relative- it changes with the barometer...

OwnIndex is some voodoo number that is arguably meaningless... what does it really measure? Resting HR? That really doesn't predict much, or it would be a more significant number.

I've found that after a number of OwnIndex tests, the calories burned much more closely match the indicator on my treadmill. Before, it was really high, like 50-75% higher. The first time I used OwnIndex, the treadmill read something like 800 calories while the Polar read half that. Now, if the treadmill reads 800, the Polar will be within 50 of it.

Other than that, I have no idea what the value of OwnIndex is.

As for altutude, you need to reset it every time you are going to use it (I don't have the 720, so I don't know if that's feasible). I had an Avocet computer with altitude, and since I live in NYC, I'd just cycle over to the river and set the altitude for 10 feet. Then, I'd go home and note the altitude. So, whenever I'd leave the apartment, I'd make sure that I set the altitude to that number. If the pressure changes during the ride, like if a cold front moves in, the readout won't be accurate. However, most of the time, pressure takes hours to change appreciably. So you shouldn't have to be too concerned about that.


I just got a great deal at my LBS on a 720i and raced home to check out the OwnIndex feature that predicts your Vo2max. Mine said 61. How reliable is this test compared with a clinical test. Also, at 17 how much can I expect my vo2 to improve? I have been aerobically active for the past few years, but just started structured training for mtb racing i have just started at the sport level. any help would be great. The altitude also seems to get out of whack when i am inside. Any comments??

can anyone help me out with this? thanks.

One of they guys in our club had his VO2 max tested at a university lab and it was 60, if I remember correctly. His Polar predicted 62.

I would take it wiht a grain of salt however, as this is only one example.

I agree that you shoudl take the Own Index measurments with a grain of salt. However, for many people the #'s it provides are very good. I have discussed this with the PhD who does my testing and some friends that have masters in ExercisePhys. No one has been able to gvie me a reason for the high degree of accuracy in some people other then that they fit the formulas used by polar to calculate the numbers. It must be remembered that for the reading to have any chance of being accurate you woudl have to be sure to select the fitness level that matches you best and enter a correct weight.

As another example the own index gave me a reading 67 and I tested at 68. Additionally the calorie function is within 2% of actual calorie usage as tested. This could be a result of my matching the "ideal" used in the formulas very well.