What's a Good VO2 Max? Age Chart, Calculator, and How to Improve It

VO2 max is the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use during hard exercise. It is measured in milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute, or mL/kg/min. In plain English: it is one number that reflects how well your heart, lungs, blood, and muscles work together.

This guide is part of the fitness and VO2 max collection in the preventive cardiology library. Use it in three steps: estimate your VO2 max, compare it with people your age and sex, then build a plan to improve it. If you already know your number, jump to how to improve VO2 max. If you are deciding how to measure it, see the VO2 max field-test guide. If your number comes from a watch, read what to trust about wearable VO2 max accuracy.

What is a good VO2 max?

A good VO2 max depends on age, sex, training background, body size, and how the number was measured. A "good" number for a 25-year-old runner may not be realistic or necessary for a 65-year-old who is just getting back into walking.

The practical answer is:

• Poor: below the 25th percentile for your age and sex.
• Fair: 25th to 49th percentile.
• Good: 50th to 74th percentile.
• Optimal: 75th to 89th percentile.
• Excellent: 90th percentile or higher.
• High-value improvement: moving out of the lowest fitness group, even if you never become "elite."

That last point matters most. Cardiorespiratory fitness is one of the strongest measurable predictors of long-term health, and the biggest health gain often comes from going from low fitness to moderate fitness, not from chasing an athlete's number.[1][2][3]

VO2 max by age

VO2 max naturally peaks in young adulthood and declines with age. Men also average higher values than women at the same age, mostly because of differences in hemoglobin, heart size, and body composition. So the right question is not just "what is a good VO2 max?" It is "what is a good VO2 max for my age and sex?"

The calculator above uses FRIEND registry treadmill CPX percentiles to label the result as poor, fair, good, optimal, or excellent.[4] The charts below are rounded, patient-friendly ranges drawn from large treadmill-tested reference cohorts, including the FRIEND registry and a large Norwegian healthy-adult dataset.[4][5] Treat them as a map, not a verdict.

VO2 max chart for men

Age	Below average	Average	Above average
20-29	<45	50-54	>58
30-39	<42	46-50	>54
40-49	<38	42-46	>50
50-59	<34	38-42	>46
60-69	<30	33-37	>41
70+	<26	28-33	>37

All values are in mL/kg/min.

VO2 max chart for women

Age	Below average	Average	Above average
20-29	<36	40-43	>47
30-39	<33	37-40	>44
40-49	<30	34-37	>41
50-59	<27	30-34	>38
60-69	<24	27-31	>35
70+	<21	24-28	>32

All values are in mL/kg/min.

How to read your result

Use the tables for orientation, but do not split hairs. Field tests and wearables can be off by several mL/kg/min for any one person. A watch estimate that changes from 38 to 39 is probably just noise. A change of 3-4 mL/kg/min, roughly 1 MET, that holds over 8-12 weeks is more likely to be real.[6][7]

I would use your result this way:

• If you are below average, do not panic. This is often the group with the most to gain.
• If you are average, try to hold or gently improve it over time.
• If you are above average, the goal is consistency, not proving something every week.
• Repeat the same test under similar conditions every 8-12 weeks.

Wearables and field tests are estimates

The gold-standard VO2 max test is a cardiopulmonary exercise test, or CPET, with a mask and gas-exchange equipment. Most people will not do that routinely.

That is why this page includes practical field estimates: the Cooper 12-minute test, the 1.5-mile run, the Rockport walk, the 20 m shuttle, and a rough heart-rate-ratio screen. They are useful, but they do not measure oxygen directly.[8]

Wearables have the same basic limitation. Apple Watch, Garmin, and similar devices estimate VO2 max from heart rate, pace, age, sex, weight, and proprietary algorithms. A large wearable review found exercise-based algorithms are better than resting-only algorithms, but individual-level error is still wide.[6] Use the trend, not the single number.

How to improve VO2 max

The good news is that VO2 max is trainable at almost every age. You do not need a complicated program. You need regular aerobic work plus enough intensity to make your cardiovascular system adapt.

A reasonable weekly template:

• 2-3 days of easy-to-moderate aerobic exercise: brisk walking, jogging, cycling, swimming, rowing, or hiking for 30-60 minutes.
• 1 day of harder intervals: for example, 4 rounds of 4 minutes hard with 3 minutes easy between rounds, or 6-10 rounds of 30 seconds hard with easy recovery.
• 1-2 days of strength or mobility work: not because it directly defines VO2 max, but because it keeps the body durable enough to keep training.
• Enough recovery to repeat it: sleep, easy days, and not turning every workout into a test.

High-intensity interval training can raise VO2 max more efficiently than comfortable steady exercise alone, although the best real-life plan usually blends both.[9]

What to do next

Pick one test from the calculator above and repeat it in 8-12 weeks. If you are using a wearable, use the same device and the same type of activity each time. Outdoor GPS-tracked runs usually give better device estimates than mixed activity or resting-only data.

If you have heart disease, lung disease, chest pain, fainting, uncontrolled blood pressure, diabetes with complications, or you have been sedentary and are over 40, talk with your clinician before doing vigorous or maximal testing.

More VO2 max guides

• How to improve VO2 max: the practical training plan.
• VO2 max field tests: how to choose the right protocol and understand the equations.
• Wearable VO2 max accuracy: how to interpret Apple Watch, Garmin, and other device estimates.

How this fits Vital8

Life's Essential 8 includes physical activity as a core cardiovascular health domain. Vital8 keeps that foundation, then asks a second question: not only "how many minutes did you move?" but "what fitness did that movement build?"

Two people can both hit the same weekly exercise-minute target and still have very different aerobic capacity. VO2 max helps make that difference visible. For the larger framework, see the Vital8 methodology white paper, the methods and scoring appendix, and the Vital8 score.

This page is educational and is not a diagnosis or a substitute for medical care.

References

1. 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. Circulation. 2016.
2. 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. JAMA. 2009.
3. Kokkinos P, Faselis C, Samuel IBH, et al. Cardiorespiratory fitness and mortality risk across the spectra of age, race, and sex. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2022.
4. Myers J, Kaminsky LA, Lima R, et al. A reference equation for normal standards for VO2 max: analysis from the FRIEND Registry. Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases. 2017.
5. Loe H, Rognmo O, Saltin B, Wisloff U. Aerobic capacity reference data in 3816 healthy men and women 20-90 years. PLOS ONE. 2013.
6. Molina-Garcia P, Notbohm HL, Schumann M, et al. Validity of estimating the maximal oxygen consumption by consumer wearables: a systematic review with meta-analysis and expert statement of the INTERLIVE Network. Sports Medicine. 2022.
7. Petek BJ, Al-Alusi MA, Moulson N, et al. Consumer wearable health and fitness technology in cardiovascular medicine: JACC state-of-the-art review. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2023.
8. Mayorga-Vega D, Bocanegra-Parrilla R, Ornelas M, Viciana J. Criterion-related validity of the distance- and time-based walk/run field tests for estimating cardiorespiratory fitness. PLOS ONE. 2016.
9. Milanovic Z, Sporis G, Weston M. Effectiveness of high-intensity interval training and continuous endurance training for VO2max improvements: a systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled trials. Sports Medicine. 2015.