About Us
Ascend Health and Performance
Our Mission: To bring lab-grade fitness testing into everyday life so you can train smarter, perform better, and live healthier.
What we do
We provide VO2 max testing using laboratory-grade equipment at local gyms and sports clubs making physiological testing accessible and affordable.
VO2 max is the gold standard measure of cardiorespiratory fitness and aerobic capacity. During the test we measure the maximum amount of oxygen your body can utilize in a minute during intense exercise. This provides you with a numerical score that represents the size of your aerobic engine. This score will tell you how good your current fitness level is when compared to those within a similar age/sex group.
Using breath by breath analysis during the test we are able to identify your ventilatory thresholds (VT1 and VT2) which are used to create personalized training zones. These zones allow you to train at the correct intensity for your goals, whether that's improving your aerobic base or preparing for your next marathon, triathlon or HYROX event.
Why We Do It
Despite VO₂max being widely regarded as the gold standard measure of cardiorespiratory fitness, access to laboratory-grade testing has traditionally been limited to elite athletes, universities and those who could afford specialist performance testing.
Our mission is to make laboratory grade physiological testing accessible to all who care about their health and fitness.
Who It's For
We believe VO₂max testing is for anyone who takes part in physical activity, whether your goal is to improve your health or maximise your performance. VO₂max testing should be part of everyone's fitness journey, from elite endurance athletes to your local parkrun runner. Everyone deserves to know their numbers and understand their body's physiological response to exercise.
Who We Are
We are a team of sports scientists, biochemists, and finance professionals with a shared passion for health, performance, and evidence-based training.
Like many of you, we described ourselves as weekend warriors. During the week we were busy with our careers, but our evenings and weekends were spent chasing the next challenge, whether that's training for a marathon, triathlon, HYROX, or simply becoming fitter than we were yesterday.
Like many recreational athletes, we were constantly looking for ways to improve our performance and better understand our own fitness. We wanted access to the same physiological testing used by elite athletes, but quickly realised that laboratory-grade VO₂max testing was often expensive, difficult to access and largely reserved for elite athletes in professional sport.
Rather than accepting this, we decided to change it. Combining our backgrounds in sports science, biochemistry and business, we created a service that brings laboratory-grade VO₂max testing directly to gyms and sports clubs, the home of the weekend warriors.
