Issue No. 52: VO2 Max - The New Number Everyone in Fitness Should Know

August 14, 2025

Good Morning! Welcome to this week’s edition of Morning Cowbell. Let’s take a look at the top stories and coolest trends shaping fitness and health.

💪  VO2 Max: The New Number Everyone in Fitness Should Know. Your VO2 Max isn’t just a fitness metric. It’s a crystal ball for your performance, recovery, and even your longevity. The higher it is, the longer, stronger, and faster you can go in both sport and life.

IN THIS ISSUE:
1. Get Stronger Without the Weights
2. 7K Steps a Day Is the New 10K
3. Wattbike Air: The 2,500-Watt Leg Burner
4. The Fastest Woman to Run Around the World
5. Why Minimalism Makes You Happier

🐄 🐄 🐄 — John, Nolan and Josh

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Get Stronger Without the Weights

You can build muscle, boost strength, and train your whole body using just your own weight - by mastering calisthenics progressions, compound moves, and clever variations.

  • The big picture: Bodyweight is the tool - and it’s surprisingly effective.
    You don’t need external weights to gain strength - just tweak your form, base, and volume to level up your workouts. Compound movements do the heavy lifting. Push-ups, pull-ups, squats, lunges, and dynamic core exercises like L-sits and human flags engage multiple muscle groups at once for maximal efficiency. Calisthenics is flexible, portable, and scalable.Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced athlete, you can modify your training with regressions (like knee push-ups), progressions (like handstand push-ups), and even minimal equipment like resistance bands.

  • The verdict: Calisthenics offers a smart, full-body workout that builds real strength and muscle using just your body - and it’s adaptable enough for any fitness level.

7K Steps a Day Is the New 10K

Ditch the mythical 10,000-step dogma - seven thousand solid, stylish steps a day can give your heart, brain, and mood a major upgrade, according to top docs.

  • The big picture: Mood boost on the move: Just stepping outside for a walk, especially outside, can reset your mental state, diluting frustration, anxiety, and mental fog with fresh air and endorphins. Heart, brain & body get in on the action: A solid 7,000 steps daily is tied to serious health wins from slashing cardiovascular risk to revving up cognitive function and even memory recall. Real gains, fewer steps: While 10k may sound impressive, the real magic of 7,000 steps delivers comparable benefits - and is far more accessible and sustainable for everyday folks.

  • The verdict:  Seven thousand steps a day - taken with gusto, laughter, or a friend - might be your easiest and smartest mini-move for big-time well-being.

Wattbike Air: The 2,500 Watt Leg Burner

When it comes to air‑resistance machines, the Wattbike Air earned the crown with its monstrous 2,500‑watt resistance, app smarts, and subscription‑free workouts.

  • The big picture: Unmatched power output – With up to 2,500 watts of air resistance, this beast will challenge even elite sprinters, making it perfect for explosive HIIT, steady endurance, or “why did I sign up for this?” training sessions. Data-driven performance – The Wattbike Air syncs with its companion app to deliver precise stats on power, cadence, and technique, giving you real-time feedback worthy of a pro-level training lab. No strings (or fees) attached – Unlike many competitors, all the performance features are available without a mandatory subscription, so you get full functionality from day one without monthly wallet guilt.

  • The verdict: If you want a workout that doesn’t waste time on fluff or fees, the Wattbike Air blows the competition away with fierce resistance, smart feedback, and zero subscription drama.

The Fastest Woman to Run Around the World

Marie Leautey ran 17,500 miles across four continents one marathon per day - fueled by joy, supported by a stroller, and captured in her new book Lootie’s World Run.

  • The big picture: Nomad meets marathon: Lootie, who had been living a globe-trotting life since age 20 suddenly thought: Why not literally run around the world? And so she did, covering 17,500 miles from December 2019 to September 2022. Training meets intuition: Instead of punishing her body, she listened to it, testing herself with post-work runs, multi-marathon days, and tuning into joy rather than times or numbers. Magic stroller & meaningful encounters: Her game-changer? A baby stroller - rocking shock absorbers - to haul 12–15 kilos of gear across mountains and continents.

  • The verdict: If there’s anything more powerful than sheer endurance, it’s learning to run life in a way that’s purposeful, joyful, and deeply human - with a stroller full of gear and an even fuller heart.

Why Minimalism Makes You Happier

Minimalism brings the biggest happiness boost not through ditching things, but by nurturing community - and women tend to feel it most.

  • The big picture: Research shows that while clearing out your stuff can feel good, the real long-term happiness from minimalism comes from how it reshapes your life toward people and purpose. With fewer distractions from material possessions, you have more time, energy, and attention to invest in relationships. The study revealed that women, in particular, show stronger increases in happiness from minimalism - especially when it fosters a sense of belonging and support.

  • The verdict: Minimalism is not about how little you own. It’s about how much you belong. If you want the happiness perks, focus less on purging your closet and more on opening your heart (and maybe your door) to the people who matter.

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