VO₂max Calculator & Chart by Age
VO₂max is the maximum oxygen your body can use during hard exercise — the single best number for aerobic fitness. This calculator estimates it from a field test you can do yourself, then shows where you land for your age and sex using the U.S. FRIEND reference standards.
VO₂max chart by age & sex
What counts as a "good" VO₂max depends entirely on age and sex — it falls about 10% per decade. These are the U.S. national reference percentiles (FRIEND Registry, measured by lab exercise testing). Find your age row, then see which percentile your number reaches.
| Age | 5th | 10th | 25th | 50th | 75th | 90th | 95th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20–29 | 29.0 | 32.1 | 40.1 | 48.0 | 55.2 | 61.8 | 66.3 |
| 30–39 | 27.2 | 30.2 | 35.9 | 42.4 | 49.2 | 56.5 | 59.8 |
| 40–49 | 24.2 | 26.8 | 31.9 | 37.8 | 45.0 | 52.1 | 55.6 |
| 50–59 | 20.9 | 22.8 | 27.1 | 32.6 | 39.7 | 45.6 | 50.7 |
| 60–69 | 17.4 | 19.8 | 23.7 | 28.2 | 34.5 | 40.3 | 43.0 |
| 70–79 | 16.3 | 17.1 | 20.4 | 24.4 | 30.4 | 36.6 | 39.7 |
| Age | 5th | 10th | 25th | 50th | 75th | 90th | 95th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20–29 | 21.7 | 23.9 | 30.5 | 37.6 | 44.7 | 51.3 | 56.0 |
| 30–39 | 19.0 | 20.9 | 25.3 | 30.2 | 36.1 | 41.4 | 45.8 |
| 40–49 | 17.0 | 18.8 | 22.1 | 26.7 | 32.4 | 38.4 | 41.7 |
| 50–59 | 16.0 | 17.3 | 19.9 | 23.4 | 27.6 | 32.0 | 35.9 |
| 60–69 | 13.4 | 14.6 | 17.2 | 20.0 | 23.8 | 27.0 | 29.4 |
| 70–79 | 13.1 | 13.6 | 15.6 | 18.3 | 20.8 | 23.1 | 24.1 |
Verified source: VO₂max reference percentiles by age & sex — Kaminsky LA, Arena R, Myers J — Mayo Clinic Proceedings, FRIEND Registry, "Reference Standards for Cardiorespiratory Fitness…" 90(11):1515–1523, Table 3 (2015 (measured treadmill CPX)). Reproduced verbatim and checked cell-by-cell. Every percentile cell reproduced verbatim from Table 3 ("Men/Women from FRIEND") and verified against the primary publication. The field-test estimation equations are public-domain published formulas (Cooper, Kline, McArdle, Uth, ACSM). Official source · Sources & methodology
Ways to estimate VO₂max
- Cooper 12-minute run: Run as far as you can in 12 minutes. The classic field test. (Cooper KH, JAMA 1968)
- 1.5-mile run: Your time to run 1.5 miles (2.4 km) as fast as you can. The Air Force / ROTC cardio test. (ACSM GETP 11th ed.)
- Rockport 1-mile walk: Walk one mile as fast as you can; take your heart rate at the finish. Great for lower fitness levels. (Kline GM et al., Med Sci Sports Exerc 1987)
- Queen's College step test: Step on/off a 16.25-inch (41 cm) box for 3 minutes (men 24, women 22 steps/min), then take a 15-second recovery pulse. (McArdle WD et al., Med Sci Sports 1972)
- Resting heart rate: A no-exercise estimate from your resting and age-predicted maximum heart rate. (Uth N et al., Eur J Appl Physiol 2004)
Frequently asked questions
What is a good VO₂max for my age?
It depends on age and sex. By the U.S. FRIEND reference standards, a man aged 20–29 averages about 48 ml/kg/min (50th percentile); roughly 55+ is good (75th percentile) and 62+ is excellent (90th). A woman 20–29 averages about 38; about 45+ is good. Both fall ~10% per decade, so a 50th-percentile score for a 60-year-old is far lower than for a 25-year-old.
How do you calculate VO₂max without a lab?
VO₂max is measured precisely in a lab with a mask (cardiopulmonary exercise testing), but you can estimate it from a field test: a 12-minute Cooper run, a 1.5-mile run, a 1-mile walk with heart rate (Rockport), a 3-minute step test, or even your resting and maximum heart rate. This calculator uses the published equation for each test.
How accurate are field-test VO₂max estimates?
They're ballparks. Field-test equations typically carry a standard error of about 3–5 ml/kg/min versus a lab measurement, and depend on giving a true maximal (or correctly paced) effort. Use the estimate to track change over time and to see your rough percentile — not as an exact clinical value.
What VO₂max data does this use?
The age-and-sex percentiles come from the FRIEND Registry (Fitness Registry and the Importance of Exercise National Database) — measured VO₂max from maximal treadmill tests on U.S. adults, published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings (Kaminsky et al., 2015). It's the modern U.S. reference standard, reproduced verbatim here.