If your client's job as a surgeon has an oxygen cost of 7 METS, at approximately what percent of his VO2max is he working at on a daily basis?

To determine the percent of VO2max at which the client is working based on an oxygen cost of 7 METs, it is important to first understand the relationship between METs and VO2max. One MET is equivalent to a VO2 of approximately 3.5 mL/kg/min, which is the oxygen consumption of a person at rest. Therefore, to find the absolute VO2 associated with 7 METs, you would multiply 7 by 3.5 mL/kg/min, resulting in roughly 24.5 mL/kg/min.

The next step is to relate this to the client's VO2max. The calculation involves knowing the client's VO2max in mL/kg/min. If the oxygen cost of their daily work translates to 24.5 mL/kg/min, this value is then compared to the VO2max to calculate the percentage.

Using the understanding that 7 METs represents a higher level of exertion, when 7 METs equals about 70% VO2max for many individuals, it indicates that the surgeon is exerting a significant percentage of his maximum capacity. This is commonly associated with more intense physical activities, which would suggest a workload percentage that doesn't appear just by looking at the math