VO2 Max Calculator and Chart by Age and Sex

VO2 max chart by age and sex

These tables show percentiles of directly measured VO2 max (strictly VO2 peak, in mL/kg/min) from treadmill cardiopulmonary exercise tests in apparently healthy US adults with no known heart or lung disease. They come from the 2022 update of the FRIEND registry: 16,278 treadmill tests from 34 laboratories[1]. The 50th percentile is the median. When you use the calculator, your age group is highlighted.

Swipe the tables sideways to see every percentile.

VO2 max percentiles for men (mL/kg/min)
Age	10th	20th	30th	40th	50th	60th	70th	80th	90th
20 to 29	28.6	35.2	40.0	43.6	46.5	49.0	51.9	54.5	58.6
30 to 39	24.9	29.8	33.5	37.0	39.7	43.4	46.4	50.0	55.5
40 to 49	22.1	26.7	29.7	32.4	35.3	37.9	40.9	45.2	50.8
50 to 59	18.6	22.2	24.5	26.9	29.2	31.8	34.3	38.3	43.4
60 to 69	15.8	18.5	20.7	22.8	24.6	26.5	28.7	32.0	37.1
70 to 79	13.6	15.9	17.3	19.1	20.6	22.2	23.8	25.9	29.4
80 to 89	12.9	14.8	16.1	16.6	17.6	18.4	20.0	21.4	22.8

VO2 max percentiles for women (mL/kg/min)
Age	10th	20th	30th	40th	50th	60th	70th	80th	90th
20 to 29	22.5	27.2	30.8	34.0	36.6	39.0	41.8	44.8	49.0
30 to 39	18.6	21.9	24.2	26.4	28.3	31.0	33.6	37.0	42.1
40 to 49	17.2	19.7	21.8	23.9	25.7	27.7	30.0	33.0	37.8
50 to 59	16.5	18.5	20.1	21.5	22.9	24.6	26.3	28.4	32.4
60 to 69	13.4	15.4	17.0	18.3	19.6	20.9	22.4	24.3	27.3
70 to 79	12.3	14.0	15.2	16.2	17.2	18.3	19.6	20.8	22.8
80 to 89	11.4	12.6	13.7	14.7	15.4	16.0	17.3	18.4	20.8

Source: Kaminsky et al. 2022, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Table 3 (treadmill, peak respiratory exchange ratio of at least 1.0). Cycle ergometer values are lower and are not used here.

What is a good VO2 max for your age?

A useful benchmark is the median for your age and sex. In the FRIEND registry the median is 39.7 mL/kg/min for men and 28.3 for women aged 30 to 39, 35.3 and 25.7 at 40 to 49, and 29.2 and 22.9 at 50 to 59[1]. A value above the 60th percentile is better than most people your age, and above the 80th percentile is high.

VO2 max falls with age in every group in the registry, so the same number means more at 60 than at 30. For a man in his twenties, 40 mL/kg/min sits near the 30th percentile. For a man in his sixties, the same 40 is above the 90th.

What is VO2 max?

VO2 max is the highest rate at which your body can take up and use oxygen during exercise. It is expressed in millilitres of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute (mL/kg/min) and is the standard measure of cardiorespiratory fitness. In a lab it is measured with a mask and a gas analyser during an exercise test that gets harder until you cannot continue. When the test ends without a clear plateau, the highest value reached is called VO2 peak. Registries such as FRIEND report VO2 peak.

The American Heart Association has made the case for treating cardiorespiratory fitness as a clinical vital sign that should be assessed in clinical practice[10]. In a meta-analysis of 33 studies with about 103,000 participants, each 1 MET higher level of fitness (1 MET is 3.5 mL/kg/min) was associated with a 13% lower risk of death from any cause[11]. These are associations from observational data, not proof of cause and effect.

How to calculate VO2 max: the five methods

Each method in the calculator comes from a published study. They differ in what you need to do and in how close the estimate gets to a lab measurement. The typical error is the standard error of the estimate (SEE): about two in three people measured in a lab fall within that distance of their estimate.

Method	Equation	Developed in	Typical error
Resting heart rate (Uth)	`15.3 × HRmax ÷ HRrest` for men, `14.5 × HRmax ÷ HRrest` for women. HRmax can be estimated as `208 − 0.7 × age`[4]	46 well trained men aged 21 to 51[2]; 27 trained women[3]	±2.7 mL/kg/min in men with a measured HRmax, ±4.7 with an age predicted HRmax; about 6.8% in women
12 minute run (Cooper)	`(distance in metres − 504.9) ÷ 44.73`	115 men in the US Air Force[5]	Correlation 0.90 with lab VO2 max; no standard error published in the original abstract
1 mile walk (Rockport)	`132.853 − 0.0769 × weight(lb) − 0.3877 × age + 6.315 × sex − 3.2649 × time(min) − 0.1565 × HR`, sex 1 for men and 0 for women	343 healthy adults aged 30 to 69[6]	±5.0 mL/kg/min[8]
Questionnaire (Jackson)	`56.363 + 1.921 × activity − 0.381 × age − 0.754 × BMI + 10.987 × sex`, activity rated 0 to 7	2,009 adults at NASA Johnson Space Center, about 10% women[7]	±5.6 mL/kg/min
I know my VO2 max	No equation. Your value is placed on the FRIEND percentiles.	Not applicable	Depends on where the value came from

The Rockport equation shown is the relative form (mL/kg/min) used throughout the literature. The original abstract also gives an absolute form in L/min; the two are separate regressions and can differ by several mL/kg/min, so this calculator uses the relative form only.

How to do each test

Resting heart rate: lie still for 5 minutes just after waking and take the lowest 1 minute average. Many watches report this as resting heart rate. A measured max heart rate from a recent all out effort is more accurate than the age formula.
12 minute run: warm up, then run or walk as far as possible in exactly 12 minutes on a flat measured course such as a 400 m track. Record the total distance.
1 mile walk: walk 1 mile (1,609 m) as fast as you can without running on a flat course. Record your time and your heart rate over the final quarter mile.
Questionnaire: enter your height, weight and the activity description that best matches the past month. No exercise needed.

Safety first. Maximal and near maximal tests are not appropriate for everyone. If you have a heart condition, symptoms such as chest pain or dizziness, or have been inactive for a long time, speak to a doctor first and start with the resting heart rate or questionnaire method.

How accurate are smartwatch VO2 max estimates?

Watches from Apple, Garmin and others estimate VO2 max from heart rate and pace during outdoor walks and runs. They are convenient for tracking trends, but individual values can be well off. In a validation study of the Apple Watch Series 7 against a metabolic gas analyser in 19 adults, the mean absolute percentage error was 15.8% and the root mean square error was 8.85 mL/kg/min. The watch overestimated VO2 max in people with low fitness and underestimated it in people with high fitness[13].

If you have a value from a device, choose I know my VO2 max above to see where it sits, and read it as an estimate. Our device guides cover what each platform measures and how well it has been validated: Apple Watch, Garmin CIRQA, WHOOP and Oura Ring.

VO2 max in clinical research

Cardiorespiratory fitness is increasingly tracked outside the lab, in decentralized and hybrid studies where participants wear consumer devices for weeks or months. That makes it possible to follow changes over time, but it also means researchers have to account for algorithm changes, device differences and the error ranges described above. Our VO2 max digital biomarker profile covers how it is measured, validated and used as a study endpoint, and wearables in clinical trials covers the wider picture.

Collecting fitness data in a study?WeGuide brings native Garmin and Apple Health data together with ePRO, eConsent and participant engagement in one whitelabel app.

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Frequently asked questions

How do I calculate my VO2 max?

Choose a method in the calculator above. With no exercise, use your resting heart rate or the questionnaire. If you can do a field test, the 12 minute run or the 1 mile walk use your own performance. Each estimate comes with its typical error, and a lab test with a gas analyser remains the most accurate way to measure VO2 max.

What is a good VO2 max for my age?

Compare your number with the median for your age and sex in the chart above. For example, the median is 35.3 mL/kg/min for men and 25.7 for women aged 40 to 49 in the FRIEND registry. Above the 60th percentile is better than most people your age, and above the 80th is high.

How can I check my VO2 max at home?

Use your resting heart rate, a 12 minute run or a 1 mile walk with the calculator above, or read the estimate from a smartwatch. All of these are estimates. Only a cardiopulmonary exercise test in a lab measures VO2 max directly.

Can you improve your VO2 max?

Yes. In a meta-analysis of controlled trials in healthy young to middle aged adults, endurance training raised VO2 max by an average of 4.9 mL/kg/min and high intensity interval training by 5.5 mL/kg/min compared with no exercise[12]. Gains tend to be larger in people who start from a lower fitness level and in longer programmes.

Is my smartwatch VO2 max accurate?

It is a useful trend measure but not a lab value. In one validation study of the Apple Watch Series 7, the average error was about 16%, with low fitness overestimated and high fitness underestimated[13]. Accuracy varies by device, software version and how you use it.

What is the difference between VO2 max and VO2 peak?

VO2 max is the true ceiling, shown by a plateau in oxygen uptake despite more work. VO2 peak is the highest value reached in a test, whether or not a plateau appears. Most real world tests, including those in the FRIEND registry, report VO2 peak, and in practice the terms are often used interchangeably.

Why does this calculator give a different number from other calculators?

Different calculators use different methods, max heart rate formulas and norm tables, and some contain coding errors in published equations. This calculator uses each equation exactly as published, shows the working, and compares results with directly measured reference values from FRIEND 2022.

References

Kaminsky LA, Arena R, Myers J, et al. Updated reference standards for cardiorespiratory fitness measured with cardiopulmonary exercise testing: data from the Fitness Registry and the Importance of Exercise National Database (FRIEND). Mayo Clin Proc. 2022;97(2):285-293. PubMed 34809986
Uth N, Sørensen H, Overgaard K, Pedersen PK. Estimation of VO2max from the ratio between HRmax and HRrest: the Heart Rate Ratio Method. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2004;91(1):111-115. Erratum: Eur J Appl Physiol. 2005;93(4):508-509 (corrects the Appendix only). PubMed 14624296
Uth N. Gender difference in the proportionality factor between the mass specific VO2max and the ratio between HRmax and HRrest. Int J Sports Med. 2005;26(9):763-767. PubMed 16237622
Tanaka H, Monahan KD, Seals DR. Age-predicted maximal heart rate revisited. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2001;37(1):153-156. PubMed 11153730
Cooper KH. A means of assessing maximal oxygen intake: correlation between field and treadmill testing. JAMA. 1968;203(3):201-204. PubMed 5694044
Kline GM, Porcari JP, Hintermeister R, et al. Estimation of VO2max from a one-mile track walk, gender, age, and body weight. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1987;19(3):253-259. PubMed 3600239
Jackson AS, Blair SN, Mahar MT, et al. Prediction of functional aerobic capacity without exercise testing. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1990;22(6):863-870. Coefficients as tabulated in Peterman JE, et al. J Am Heart Assoc. 2020;9(11):e015117 (PubMed 32458761). PubMed 2287267
Rockport relative equation and its error (r = 0.88, SEE 5.0 mL/kg/min) as reported in Renaud M, Maquestiaux F, Joncas S, et al. Front Aging Neurosci. 2010;2:148 (PubMed 21151355), with identical coefficients in several other studies.
Activity rating wording (0 to 7) from Ross RM and Jackson AS, 1990, as quoted in Weiss A, et al. Health Psychol. 2024;43(10):768-777. PubMed 38780552
Ross R, Blair SN, Arena R, et al. Importance of assessing cardiorespiratory fitness in clinical practice: a case for fitness as a clinical vital sign. A scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2016;134(24):e653-e699. PubMed 27881567
Kodama S, Saito K, Tanaka S, et al. Cardiorespiratory fitness as a quantitative predictor of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular events in healthy men and women: a meta-analysis. JAMA. 2009;301(19):2024-2035. PubMed 19454641
Milanović Z, Sporiš G, Weston M. Effectiveness of high-intensity interval training (HIT) and continuous endurance training for VO2max improvements: a systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled trials. Sports Med. 2015;45(10):1469-1481. PubMed 26243014
Caserman P, et al. Assessing the accuracy of smartwatch-based estimation of maximum oxygen uptake using the Apple Watch Series 7: validation study. JMIR Biomed Eng. 2024;9:e59459. PubMed 39083800

Formulas and reference values checked against the original publications on 4 October 2026 by the WeGuide editorial team. This tool is for education and research. It is not a medical device and does not give medical advice.

VO2 max calculator