A free VO2 max calculator with three at-home tests, each with its own study's equation, and the average for your age.
5,0(1 rating)Your VO2 max from a test you can do today: your resting heart rate, a 12-minute run or a 1-mile walk. Then how you compare with people your age, and your line to 90.
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Your VO2 max as 1 page to keep or share with your coach: your result against your age's average. Open it, download it or save it as a PDF.
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General wellness education, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor before you change how you train, especially with a heart condition, medication or pregnancy. Your answers stay in this browser.
This free VO2 max calculator estimates your VO2 max from a test you can do today: your resting heart rate, a 12-minute run or a 1-mile walk. Then it shows how you compare with people your age and where your line heads by 90.
Each test uses its own study's equation, and your numbers stay in your browser.
Here's what VO2 max is, the three tests and how accurate each is, the averages by age, why it matters, and how to raise yours.
TL;DRKey takeaways
What is VO2 max?
VO2 max is the most oxygen your body can use in a minute of hard exercise, per kilogram of body weight. It's written in milliliters per kilogram per minute (mL/kg/min).
A lab measures it on a treadmill or bike with a mask. At home you estimate it.
Three ways to estimate it at home
- What you do
- Nothing: your resting and max heart rate
- The equation
- Uth et al. 2004: 15.3 × max ÷ resting
- What you do
- Run as far as you can in 12 minutes
- The equation
- Cooper 1968: (meters − 504.9) ÷ 44.73
- What you do
- Walk 1 mile fast, note your time and heart rate
- The equation
- Kline et al. 1987, the Rockport walk test
The resting heart rate method was built on trained men, so it reads high for many people. The run and the walk measure you working, so they're closer.
How you compare
The average VO2 max in NTNU's HUNT3 Fitness Study, measured directly in more than 4,600 Norwegians:
- Women
- 43
- Men
- 54
- Women
- 40
- Men
- 49
- Women
- 38
- Men
- 47
- Women
- 34
- Men
- 42
- Women
- 31
- Men
- 39
- Women
- 27
- Men
- 34
The calculator shows how far above or below your age's average you are.
Why it matters
In a study of 122,007 patients on a treadmill, Mandsager and colleagues found the fittest group had about 80% lower risk of death than the least fit. They found no upper limit to the benefit.
How it falls with age
Peter Attia puts the fall at about 10% a decade, and about 15% a decade after 50. The calculator draws your line from today to 90.
How to raise it
The intervals are Attia's, from Outlive. Find your zone 2 first with the zone 2 heart rate calculator.
Outlive
Outlive by Dr. Peter Attia breaks down the most effective strategies for long-term health and performance, covering exercise, nutrition, sleep, and emotional wellbeing to add years to your life.
I may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
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See what your VO2 max means for life at 90 with the fitness age calculator, time your grip with the dead hang test, and take the full longevity test.
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VO2 max calculator FAQs
Questions about the vO2 max calculator? Here's what to know.
It estimates the most oxygen your body can use in hard exercise, from a simple test.
This one takes your resting heart rate, a 12-minute run or a 1-mile walk.
The 12-minute run and the 1-mile walk, because they measure you working.
The resting heart rate method was built on trained men and reads high for many people.
Above your age's average is a good start.
In NTNU's HUNT3 study, the average at 40 to 49 was 38 for women and 47 for men.
In a study of 122,007 patients, the fittest group had about 80% lower risk of death than the least fit.
No upper limit to the benefit was found.
Build a base of zone 2, then add 1 session a week of 4 minutes hard and 4 minutes easy, 4 to 6 times.
Retest every 8 to 12 weeks.
I did.
I'm Navid Moazzez, and I made the VO2 max calculator as one of my free tools on navid.me, from my own Longevity OS routine.
Read more about me.
Navid Moazzez
AI business strategist & AI OS builder
Navid Moazzez helps creators and founders master AI and build their own AI Operating System (AI OS) to automate their business and life.
Navid.me is reader-supported. When you buy through links on this site, I may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more.
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