United States · Guide · Updated 2026-10-14
VO2 max: chart by age and sex, how to measure it, how to improve it
In the FRIEND registry, Kaminsky and colleagues report a 50th percentile VO2 max of 48.0 ml per kg per minute for men and 37.6 for women at ages 20 to 29, and 24.4 and 18.3 at ages 70 to 79. Those figures come from 7,783 maximal treadmill tests in the United States. A watch estimate is not that laboratory test. Medical review in progress.
What VO2 max is
VO2 max is the maximal oxygen consumption measured at the end of a maximal exercise test. Kaminsky, Arena, and Myers built US reference standards from cardiopulmonary exercise tests contributed to the Fitness Registry and the Importance of Exercise National Database, called FRIEND. The paper is in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 2015 (PMID 26455884).
Eight laboratories in the United States, experienced in this testing and using quality control procedures, contributed tests from 1 January 2014 through 1 February 2015. The sample is 7,783 maximal treadmill tests in men and women aged 20 to 79 years without known cardiovascular disease. Maximal, in this paper, means a respiratory exchange ratio of at least 1.0.
The abstract says percentiles of VO2 max were calculated for men and for women in each decade from the 20s through the 70s. This page prints the 50th percentile values the abstract states for the youngest and oldest of those decades. It does not fill in the middle decades from memory. This information does not replace advice from a health professional. Medical review in progress.
VO2 max chart by age and sex
| Age (years) | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| 20 to 29 | 48.0 | 37.6 |
| 70 to 79 | 24.4 | 18.3 |
There were significant differences between sex and age groups. From ages 20 to 29 to ages 70 to 79, the 50th percentile fell from 48.0 to 24.4 in men and from 37.6 to 18.3 in women. The abstract says the rate of decline in this cohort across that five decade span was approximately 10 percent per decade.
A single good VO2 max is not what the paper offers. The same number does not mean the same thing at 25 and at 75, or in men and in women. The 50th percentile is the middle of that tested group, not a diagnosis and not a guarantee.
What is a good VO2 max for women, using only these endpoints: 37.6 at ages 20 to 29, and 18.3 at ages 70 to 79, as the female 50th percentiles. The male endpoints are 48.0 and 24.4. Values for the decades in between are in the paper's table and are not reprinted here.
How VO2 max is measured
The FRIEND standards use cardiopulmonary exercise testing. Oxygen consumption is measured during the test. The tests in this reference set were maximal treadmill tests. The authors contrast that with earlier US reference data built without these direct measurements, and with reference data from Norway. They present FRIEND as the first US cardiorespiratory fitness reference values obtained this way, for interpreting a measured VO2 max from a maximal test.
A field estimate, a watch, or a calculation from heart rate is not this test. The abstract does not give a home protocol and does not give an error bar for any consumer device.
How to measure VO2 max at home, if the goal is the FRIEND number, is not answered by a wrist sensor. The reference value is a laboratory treadmill test with a respiratory exchange ratio of at least 1.0, in the age and sex group the paper defines.
Watch estimates: Apple, Garmin, and other wearables
Search demand asks about Apple Watch VO2 max, Garmin, and whether an Oura ring measures it. The Kaminsky abstract and the mortality paper below do not report an accuracy figure, in milliliters per kilogram per minute, for Apple Watch, Garmin, or Oura. This page does not borrow an error bar from a review it has not read.
Elio, on the US product page read on 14 October 2026, estimates VO2 max as one of its wellness indicators. The same page prices the band at 264 US dollars, one-time, with no subscription, and states a battery life of 15 days. It says Elio is not a diagnostic device, does not measure glucose, and does not detect disease. An estimate in the Chutex app is not the FRIEND treadmill value of 48.0 or 37.6.
Use a wearable series to compare your own readings with each other, on the same device. Do not average a laboratory VO2 max and a watch estimate into one true number.
Fitness and long-term mortality
Mandsager and colleagues, in JAMA Network Open in 2018 (PMID 30646252), studied 122,007 adults referred for symptom limited treadmill testing at one academic center, from 1991 through 2014. Mean age was 53.4 years (standard deviation 12.6). 59.2 percent were male. Median follow-up was 8.4 years. Death occurred in 13,637 patients over 1.1 million person years.
Fitness in that study is peak estimated metabolic equivalents on the treadmill, matched to age and sex. It is not a measured VO2 max, and it is not the FRIEND table. Performance groups were low (under the 25th percentile), below average (25th to 49th), above average (50th to 74th), high (75th to 97.6th), and elite (97.7th percentile and above).
Risk adjusted all cause mortality was lowest in elite performers. Elite versus low: adjusted hazard ratio 0.20 (95 percent confidence interval 0.16 to 0.24). Low versus elite: 5.04 (4.10 to 6.20). Below average versus above average: 1.41 (1.34 to 1.49). For comparison inside the same paper, the adjusted hazard ratio was 1.29 for coronary artery disease, 1.41 for smoking, and 1.40 for diabetes. The authors report no observed upper limit of benefit. They do not convert the ratios into added years of life, and this page does not either.
How to improve VO2 max
Mandsager and colleagues call cardiorespiratory fitness a modifiable indicator of long-term mortality and say health care professionals should encourage patients to achieve and maintain high levels of fitness. They do not prescribe a workout, a number of weeks, or a gain in milliliters per kilogram per minute.
Kaminsky's reference paper is a standards table, not a training study. It does not say how long an improvement takes, and it does not say that a Garmin plan or any other brand plan produces a stated rise.
The fastest way to increase VO2 max is not a number in either abstract. If you want the laboratory value to move, that question belongs with a clinician or a coach who can order a real test. A wellness band can show its own estimate over time. It cannot promise the FRIEND percentile will change by a date.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good VO2 max for my age?
In the FRIEND abstract, the 50th percentile at ages 20 to 29 is 48.0 ml per kg per minute for men and 37.6 for women. At ages 70 to 79 it is 24.4 and 18.3. Those are middles of a tested group, not a diagnosis. The paper has a value for each decade in between.
How accurate is Apple Watch VO2 max?
The Kaminsky and Mandsager papers read for this page do not report an Apple Watch error in milliliters per kilogram per minute. A watch estimate is not the FRIEND treadmill test.
How long does it take to improve VO2 max?
Neither paper states a number of weeks or a promised gain. Mandsager and colleagues say fitness is modifiable and should be encouraged. They do not give a calendar.
What is a good VO2 max for women?
The female 50th percentiles stated in the Kaminsky abstract are 37.6 at ages 20 to 29 and 18.3 at ages 70 to 79, in ml per kg per minute. A single number for all women is not in that abstract.
How is VO2 max measured?
The FRIEND standards use direct cardiopulmonary measurement during maximal treadmill tests, with a respiratory exchange ratio of at least 1.0. A home device that estimates the number is a different method.
Does a ring or a band measure VO2 max the way a lab does?
No. The sources read here do not give an accuracy figure for Oura, Garmin, or Apple Watch. Elio's US page says the band estimates VO2 max as a wellness indicator. That estimate is not the FRIEND value, and the band is not a diagnostic device.
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