VO2 Max Calculator
VO2 max is how much oxygen you can use per kilogram per minute at full effort — the best single measure of aerobic fitness. Both methods here estimate what a treadmill test would measure.
VO2 max
46.8ml/kg/min
- VO2 max
- 46.8 ml/kg/min
- Category
- Good
- METs
- 13.4
- Heart-rate estimate
- 47.2 ml/kg/min
- VO2 max is how much oxygen you can use per kilogram per minute at full effort. It is the single best laboratory measure of aerobic fitness, and every field estimate of it — including both of these — is an approximation of a treadmill test.
- It responds to training, and the least fit improve fastest. It also falls with age at around ten per cent a decade untrained, and considerably less than that if you keep training.
- The Cooper test is a maximal effort. It is not something to attempt untrained, and the heart-rate method exists precisely so that you do not have to.
About VO2 max
The real measurement involves a mask, a treadmill and a technician taking you to exhaustion. Everything else, including both methods here, is an estimate of that. They are useful because the true test is expensive and unpleasant, and because tracking your own number over time matters more than its absolute accuracy.
The Cooper test is a twelve-minute run for maximum distance, devised for the US military in 1968. Its virtue is that it needs a track and a watch and nothing else. Covering 2,600 metres gives an estimated VO2 max of 46.8, which is good for a 35-year-old man. It is a maximal effort and not something to attempt untrained.
The heart-rate method needs no running at all. It works because a fitter heart pumps more per beat and therefore beats more slowly at rest, so the ratio between maximum and resting rate carries real information. It is rougher than the Cooper test and far more accessible — for the same person it gives 47.2, which is close.
VO2 max responds well to training, and the least fit improve fastest — gains of 15 to 20 per cent in a few months are common from a low base. It also falls with age, at around ten per cent a decade untrained and considerably less if you keep training. It is one of the stronger predictors of long-term health there is, which is why it gets the attention it does.
What it works out
- The Cooper twelve-minute run test
- The resting and maximum heart rate method
- Where the result sits for your age and sex
- The equivalent in METs
The formula
Cooper: VO2 max = (Metres − 504.9) ÷ 44.73 Heart rate: VO2 max = 15.3 × Max ÷ Resting
The Cooper formula is a straight line fitted to measured data: 2,600 metres less 504.9, divided by 44.73, is 46.8 millilitres per kilogram per minute. The two constants have no meaning individually — they are the slope and intercept of a regression.
The heart-rate formula is different in kind. It rests on the fact that stroke volume — how much blood the heart moves per beat — improves with fitness, so a fitter heart achieves the same output at a lower rate. The ratio of maximum to resting captures that. For a 185 maximum and a 60 resting rate: 15.3 × 185 ÷ 60 is 47.2.
That the two agree within half a point here is a coincidence of these particular numbers rather than a general property. Both carry errors of several points, and both are estimating something only a laboratory measures directly.
Dividing by 3.5 converts to METs — 46.8 is 13.4 METs, meaning you can sustain thirteen times your resting metabolic rate at full effort.
- Metres
- Distance covered in twelve minutes at maximum sustainable effort.
- Max
- Maximum heart rate. Tested is much better than the age estimate.
- Resting
- Measured on waking. Falls as fitness improves, which is what drives the estimate.
A worked example
A 35-year-old man covering 2,600 metres in twelve minutes, with a resting heart rate of 60.
That works out to 46.8 ml/kg/min.
- VO2 max
- 46.8 ml/kg/min
- Category
- Good
- METs
- 13.4
- Heart-rate estimate
- 47.2 ml/kg/min
Questions
What is a good VO2 max?
It depends on age and sex. For a man in his thirties, above about 42 is good and above 52 is excellent; for a woman of the same age the equivalents are around 35 and 44. It falls with age, so the same figure means more at 55 than at 25.
How do I do the Cooper test?
Run as far as you can in twelve minutes on a track or a measured flat route, after a proper warm-up, and record the distance. It is a maximal effort — not something to attempt untrained or without being confident of your health.
Which method is more accurate?
The Cooper test, generally, because it measures actual performance. The heart-rate method is rougher but requires no maximal effort, which is why it exists. Both are estimates of a laboratory measurement.
How much can I improve my VO2 max?
Substantially from a low base — 15 to 20 per cent in a few months is common — and progressively less as you get fitter. Genetics set a ceiling, and training determines how close to it you get.
What training improves it most?
A combination: a large base of easy aerobic volume plus a smaller amount of hard interval work near maximum. Neither alone does as much as both, and the base is the part people skip.
Are watch estimates accurate?
They estimate from heart rate against pace, so they are broadly the same family of method as the one here. Useful for tracking your own trend, unreliable for comparing against other people.
What is VO2 max measured in?
Millilitres of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute. Because it is per kilogram, losing fat raises it without any change in fitness — which is worth knowing before celebrating an improvement.