What is a good VO2 max?

If you have recently checked your VO2 max on a smartwatch, undergone more comprehensive fitness tests, or just become more interested in your long-term health, you might be wondering: what is a good VO2 max?

The answer is more individual than you might expect.

VO2 max is one of the most useful measures of cardiorespiratory fitness, but there is no single number that everyone should be aiming for. Age, sex, genetics, training history, body composition and other aspects of your health can all influence your score. What we often find is that how your VO2 max compares with appropriate reference values, and how it changes over time, can tell you more about yourself than the number alone.

At Marylebone Health, we measure VO2 max as part of our comprehensive cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) service. This gold standard assessment looks at how the heart and lungs respond to exercise in a clinically controlled environment.

Read on to learn more about what your VO2 max score can tell you and how to put it into context.

What Does VO2 Max Measure?

VO2 max – or maximal oxygen uptake – measures the maximum amount of oxygen your body can take in and use during intense exercise. You will often see it expressed as millilitres of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute (ml/kg/min).

Think of it as an indication of the capacity of your body’s aerobic system. Oxygen has to enter through your lungs, be transported around the body by your cardiovascular system and ultimately be used by your muscles to produce energy – and your VO2 max reflects the combined performance of this process.

This is why it is frequently used as a measure of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) rather than a person’s sporting ability.

VO2 max can be particularly useful because cardiorespiratory fitness has been proven to have a large influence on health outcomes. A major study of 122,007 people published in the Cleveland Clinic Study in JAMA Network Open, for example, found that higher cardiorespiratory fitness was associated with lower long-term mortality. The researchers found that the risk associated with low fitness was comparable to or greater than several established clinical risk factors.

That doesn’t mean your VO2 max can predict how long you will live. It does, however, help explain why aerobic fitness has become an increasingly important factor when it comes to preventative healthcare and ageing.

What Are VO2 Levels?

We will never tell you that your VO2 max score is “good” or “bad”. It exists on a spectrum and should be interpreted in relation to the factors that make you you.

One useful source is the Fitness Registry and the Importance of Exercise National Database (FRIEND). Researchers established reference standards using VO2 max results from cardiopulmonary exercise tests in adults without known cardiovascular disease.

The research illustrates just how much typical VO2 levels can vary. The median (50th percentile) treadmill VO2 max among men aged 20–29 was 48.0 ml/kg/min, compared with 37.6 for women of the same age. Among people between 70 and 79 years of age, the respective median values were 24.4 and 18.3.

This is important to bear in mind when interpreting your own result. A score of 35 ml/kg/min, for example, means something quite different for a 25-year-old man than it does for a 65-year-old woman.

What Is a Good VO2 Max for My Age?

The table below shows the 50th and 75th percentile VO2 max values from the FRIEND treadmill reference standards*. The 50th percentile represents the median result within that age and sex group, while the 75th percentile means the score was higher than that of approximately 75% of the relevant reference group.

*VO2 max in ml/kg/min. Figures are reference values rather than targets or diagnostic thresholds.

One of the clearest patterns we can see here is that a person’s VO2 max score generally decreases with age, at a rate of approximately 10% per decade.

These numbers need context, though. They have been taken from a particular reference population and testing method, and cycle ergometer values, for example, differ from treadmill-derived results. They should always be treated as useful benchmarks.

What Is a Good VO2 Max for a Female?

As illustrated by the above graph, women generally have lower average VO2 max values than men. Differences in body composition, muscle mass, haemoglobin concentration and cardiac output are all factors that influence women’s scores.

As the table shows, asking “what is a good VO2 max for a female?” without considering the person’s age provides only part of the answer. A result around 38 ml/kg/min corresponds approximately to the median measured value for women in their 20s in the FRIEND treadmill data, but this would be considerably above the median for women in their 40s, 50s or 60s.

Training background matters a great deal, too. A highly trained endurance athlete may record a VO2 max far beyond typical values.

For most people interested in monitoring and improving their health rather than ranking amongst the world’s greatest athletes, the more useful questions are how their result compares with appropriate reference data and whether their cardiorespiratory fitness can be maintained or improved.

What Is a Good VO2 Max for a Male?

The same principle applies when determining a good VO2 max for a man.

In the FRIEND treadmill reference data, the median measured result falls from 48.0 ml/kg/min among men aged 20 to 29 to 32.6 among those aged 50 to 59, and 24.4 among those aged 70 to 79.

So, a score that might appear modest compared with a younger endurance athlete could therefore represent strong, above ‘average’ cardiorespiratory fitness for someone of a different age.

Rather than getting too hung up on the numbers, it’s often useful to establish your personal baseline, understand where you sit against the norm, and determine whether there is a realistic opportunity to improve.

What Is a Healthy VO2 Max?

There isn’t one universally applicable VO2 max number at which somebody suddenly becomes healthy.

What research does tell us, however, is a strong relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and long-term health.

In the Cleveland Clinic study involving more than 120,000 patients, increasing cardiorespiratory fitness was associated with reduced long-term mortality, while extremely high aerobic fitness was associated with the greatest survival benefit. What’s also interesting is that the researchers did not observe an upper threshold; in their findings, there was no point at which high aerobic fitness became associated with greater mortality.

With this in mind, you need to think of VO2 max as a useful piece of your health data rather than a pass-or-fail test.

What Causes Low VO2 Max?

A low VO2 max should not automatically be interpreted as evidence that something is wrong.

Age is one obvious influence. Genetics also play a role, as do sex, body composition and an individual’s exercise and training history.

Physical inactivity or insufficient aerobic conditioning can lead to lower overall cardiorespiratory fitness – and, as you’d expect, regular endurance and aerobic training can help improve the body’s ability to deliver and utilise oxygen.

The heart, lungs, blood and skeletal muscles are all involved in the process measured by VO2 max, meaning limitations at different points in this chain can potentially affect the person’s exercise capacity.

Can You Improve Your VO2 Max?

For most people, this is entirely possible, and something to aim for.

Regular aerobic exercise provides a stimulus for adaptations that can improve cardiorespiratory fitness. However, simply exercising “harder” is not necessarily the smartest approach – you need to understand your physiology and develop an exercise routine that’s more targeted.

At Marylebone Health, our comprehensive CPET assesses VO2 max alongside measurements including lactate/ventilatory threshold, respiratory compensation point, aerobic power output and heart-rate response during exercise. These results can be used to prescribe cardiovascular exercise using personalised data, helping ensure training is appropriate for your current level of fitness and the goals you have set for yourself.

Why an Estimated VO2 Max Is Not the Whole Story

Smartwatches and fitness trackers have made VO2 max more visible than ever, and in many ways, this is a positive, because accessing this kind of data can encourage people to think more carefully about their aerobic fitness and observe trends.

But remember, wearable tech is not – and cannot – perform the same assessment as a laboratory CPET.

Cardiopulmonary exercise testing examines the function of the heart and lungs during exercise. At Marylebone Health, the test is performed to maximum exertion in a clinically controlled environment and provides an objective measurement of cardiovascular fitness alongside other aerobic performance indicators.

This level of insight is ideal if you want to move beyond an estimated score and understand what is actually happening as your body responds to increasing physical demand.

Find Out Your VO2 Max at Marylebone Health

The most helpful answer to “what is a good VO2 max?” is ultimately one that is personalised to you. Marylebone Health’s Harley Street clinic brings together specialists across sport and exercise medicine, human performance, lifestyle medicine, nutrition, physiotherapy and related disciplines. Our facility is CQC registered and our CPET team assesses clients across the health and performance spectrum, from people beginning a new exercise programme and pre- or post-operative patients to competitive and elite athletes.

For bookings, prices and information, contact Marylebone Health on 0207 637 7677 or email info@marylebonehealthgroup.com