VO₂max 計算機

What is VO₂max and why does it matter

VO₂max is the maximum volume of oxygen, in millilitres per kilogram of body weight per minute (mL/kg/min), that your body can consume during all-out exercise. It’s the gold-standard measure of cardiorespiratory fitness — and a remarkably good predictor of just about everything else.

Higher VO₂max correlates with:

• Better endurance performance (running, cycling, rowing, hiking).
• Lower all-cause mortality, even adjusted for activity level.
• Lower cardiovascular disease risk.
• Slower biological aging on hallmarks like cardiac output and mitochondrial density.

This calculator gives you three field-test ways to estimate VO₂max without a lab — pick the one that fits your fitness and equipment.

The three field tests

Cooper 12-minute run (most accurate)

Run as far as you can on a flat surface (track, treadmill) in exactly 12 minutes. The longer you can go, the higher your VO₂max.

VO₂max (mL/kg/min) ≈ 22.351 × distance(km) − 11.288

Examples:

• 2.0 km in 12 min → 33.4 mL/kg/min (fair for a 30yo male)
• 2.5 km in 12 min → 44.6 mL/kg/min (good for a 30yo male)
• 3.0 km in 12 min → 55.8 mL/kg/min (excellent / superior)
• 3.5 km in 12 min → 67.0 mL/kg/min (elite recreational)

Originally published by Kenneth Cooper in JAMA (1968), validated against gas-exchange VO₂max in US Air Force personnel. It assumes near-maximal effort the whole way — pace yourself rather than sprinting and blowing up at minute 8.

Rockport 1-mile walk (for less fit / older adults)

If you can’t or shouldn’t run hard, walk 1 mile (1.609 km) as briskly as you can on a flat surface. Immediately take your heart rate (10-second count × 6).

VO₂max ≈ 132.853
       − 0.0769 × weight(lb)
       − 0.3877 × age
       + 6.315  × sex (male=1, female=0)
       − 3.2649 × walk_time(min)
       − 0.1565 × ending_HR(bpm)

This is the Kline equation (Kline et al., MSSE 1987), designed and validated for adults aged 30–69. It’s the standard ACSM submaximal test and is what fitness centers usually administer for cardiac rehab and beginner programs.

Resting-to-max HR ratio (zero exertion)

If you don’t want to test at all, the Uth–Sørensen estimate uses just two heart rates:

VO₂max ≈ 15 × (HRmax / HRrest)

Examples:

• HRmax 185, HRrest 60 → 15 × 3.08 = 46 mL/kg/min
• HRmax 200, HRrest 45 → 15 × 4.44 = 67 mL/kg/min (trained)
• HRmax 175, HRrest 80 → 15 × 2.19 = 33 mL/kg/min (sedentary)

The intuition: fitter hearts pump more blood per beat, so resting HR drops while max HR stays roughly constant. The ratio widens. From Uth, Sørensen et al. (Eur J Appl Physiol 2004), validated against lab VO₂max in healthy adults.

Caveats: underestimates for highly trained athletes (whose ratios can hit 5+ and the linear model breaks down), and overestimates for adults with chronotropic incompetence (low max HR not from fitness but from autonomic dysfunction).

VO₂max norms by age and sex

The category your VO₂max falls into depends on your age and sex. The calculator above applies this table automatically. For reference, here are the mL/kg/min thresholds (aggregated from ACSM Guidelines 11th ed. and Cooper Institute normative data):

Men

Age	Poor	Fair	Average	Good	Excellent	Superior
20–29	<38	38–42	43–46	47–50	51–55	≥56
30–39	<34	34–38	39–43	44–47	48–53	≥54
40–49	<30	30–34	35–40	41–44	45–49	≥50
50–59	<25	25–30	31–35	36–40	41–45	≥46
60+	<21	21–25	26–31	32–36	37–41	≥42

Women

Age	Poor	Fair	Average	Good	Excellent	Superior
20–29	<31	31–34	35–37	38–40	41–45	≥46
30–39	<29	29–32	33–35	36–39	40–43	≥44
40–49	<26	26–29	30–32	33–36	37–40	≥41
50–59	<22	22–25	26–29	30–33	34–37	≥38
60+	<20	20–22	23–26	27–30	31–34	≥35

A few orientation points:

• 35 mL/kg/min is roughly the threshold for “healthy enough to do most daily activities comfortably.”
• 45 mL/kg/min is around the median for active recreational athletes.
• 55+ mL/kg/min is competitive amateur runner territory.
• 65+ mL/kg/min is sub-elite endurance athlete.
• 75+ mL/kg/min is elite — pro cyclists, marathoners, cross-country skiers.
• The all-time record: ~96 (Bjørn Dæhlie, Norwegian cross-country skier).

How to use the calculator

1. Pick a method: Cooper (run), Rockport (walk), or Resting-HR (no exertion).
2. Pick metric or imperial for distance/weight.
3. Enter your age and sex — these calibrate the category bands.
4. Fill in the method-specific inputs.
5. Read your VO₂max in mL/kg/min and the percentile category for your age/sex.

What to do with the number

Training prescription

For most healthy adults, the highest-leverage training mix to raise VO₂max is:

• 2× per week interval work: 4 × 4 minutes at ~90–95% HRmax with 3 minutes easy in between (the classic Norwegian protocol). Or 6 × 2 minutes at ~95% HRmax with 90s easy.
• 2–4× per week easy aerobic volume: 30–60 min in Zone 2 (talkable pace, 60–70% HRmax). Builds the aerobic base that lets you hit those intervals harder over time.
• 2× per week strength training: maintains lean mass and economy; minimal direct VO₂max gain but huge value for injury resistance and metabolic health.

Expect 10–20% VO₂max gains in 8–12 weeks if you’re starting untrained.

Tracking

Retest every 8–12 weeks using the same protocol under the same conditions (similar weather, time of day, sleep, hydration). The Cooper test is the easiest to standardize — same loop, same shoes, similar weather, well-rested. Note your distance and any RPE or watch HR data.

Reality check on watch numbers

Your Garmin, Apple Watch, or Polar gives you a continuous VO₂max estimate from outdoor runs. These wearables:

• Read 3–8 mL/kg/min higher than lab values for trained runners.
• Read lower than reality for new users with limited outdoor run data.
• Track the trend well but should not be taken as ground truth.

Use the field test on this page as a calibration point for what your watch is telling you, and trust the direction of change more than the absolute number.

Common mistakes

• Sprinting the first 800m of a Cooper test. You’ll blow up at minute 6 and underestimate yourself by 10+%. Run a pace you could just barely hold for 12 minutes — slightly uncomfortable from the start, very uncomfortable by minute 9.
• Taking the Rockport walk too easy. It’s a brisk walk — you should be breathing hard. If your ending HR is under 120 bpm, you didn’t walk hard enough.
• Comparing across methods. A Cooper estimate and a resting-HR estimate for the same person can differ by 5+ mL/kg/min. Pick one method and stick with it for tracking.
• Comparing watch numbers across brands. Garmin and Apple use different algorithms and produce systematically different VO₂max values for the same person.
• Reading too much into a single test. Day-to-day variability is ±5%. Look at a rolling average across 2–3 tests over 4–6 weeks.

Why VO₂max matters beyond endurance performance

Even if you’ll never run a 10K, VO₂max is one of the most important health metrics you can track:

• All-cause mortality. Each 1 MET (~3.5 mL/kg/min) higher VO₂max is associated with ~12% lower mortality risk in long-term cohorts (Mandsager et al., JAMA Network Open 2018, n=122,000).
• Cardiovascular disease. Low cardiorespiratory fitness is a stronger CVD risk factor than smoking, hypertension, or diabetes.
• Cognitive aging. Higher VO₂max correlates with larger hippocampal volume and slower cognitive decline.
• Quality of life past 60. The difference between independent living and assisted living is often about 5 mL/kg/min — once VO₂max drops below ~18–20 mL/kg/min, walking a flight of stairs becomes a maximal effort.

Build aerobic capacity now. It’s the single highest-leverage health investment most people can make.

Sources

• Cooper KH (1968). A means of assessing maximal oxygen intake. JAMA 203(3):201–204.
• Kline GM, Porcari JP, Hintermeister R, et al. (1987). Estimation of VO₂max from a one-mile track walk, gender, age, and body weight. Med Sci Sports Exerc 19(3):253–259.
• Uth N, Sørensen H, Overgaard K, Pedersen PK (2004). Estimation of VO₂max from the ratio between HRmax and HRrest — the heart rate ratio method. Eur J Appl Physiol 91(1):111–115.
• American College of Sports Medicine (2021). ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, 11th ed.
• Mandsager K, Harb S, Cremer P, et al. (2018). Association of cardiorespiratory fitness with long-term mortality. JAMA Netw Open 1(6):e183605.