What is a good VO2 max for men and for women, by age

Key takeaways

In 7,783 lab-measured treadmill tests, the median VO₂ max for men fell from 48.0 in the twenties to 24.4 in the seventies.
Women's medians run from 37.6 to 18.3 across the same decades; read the table for your own sex.
At or above the median is a fair definition of good; the top quarter is a strong goal; the bottom quarter carries the most risk.
Watch estimates often read a few points low and use other rating scales, so track the trend and place yourself with care.

Most VO₂ max charts online are estimates stacked on estimates. The FRIEND registry is different: every number in it was measured with a gas analyser during a maximal treadmill test. Here are its percentiles for men and for women, decade by decade, what counts as good, and why your watch may disagree.

Where do these numbers come from?

Kaminsky, Arena and Myers pooled 7,783 maximal treadmill tests from eight US laboratories: 4,611 men and 3,172 women aged 20 to 79, all free of known cardiovascular disease. Oxygen uptake was measured directly from expired air, not predicted from pace or heart rate. That makes FRIEND one of the few reference sets where the value on the chart is the value a lab would give you.

The numbers are lower than many charts you will find on fitness sites, which often use older norms built on estimated rather than measured VO₂ max. A 2022 update of the registry, with more tests and cycling data added, found the same pattern: the median falls about 4 ml/kg/min per decade on the treadmill, and men sit above women at every age.

Free tool: Do one home test, type the result, read your estimate. Open the VO2 max calculator →

What is a good VO₂ max for men?

The table gives the 25th, 50th and 75th percentiles for men by decade. The median is the middle man of that age in the registry; the 75th percentile is where the top quarter starts.

Age	25th percentile	Median	Top quarter from
20 to 29	40.1	48.0	55.2
30 to 39	35.9	42.4	49.2
40 to 49	31.9	37.8	45.0
50 to 59	27.1	32.6	39.7
60 to 69	23.7	28.2	34.5
70 to 79	20.4	24.4	30.4

Values in ml/kg/min, treadmill tests, FRIEND registry. A man of 45 with a VO₂ max of 40 is above the median for his age and five points short of the top quarter. The same 40 at 62 is inside the top quarter.

PeakVital does this from your own data. Three tests. One number. Your real age. Join the free beta →

What is a good VO₂ max for women?

The same three percentiles for women. The gap to men is widest in the twenties, about 10 ml/kg/min at the median, and narrows to about 6 by the seventies.

Age	25th percentile	Median	Top quarter from
20 to 29	30.5	37.6	44.7
30 to 39	25.3	30.2	36.1
40 to 49	22.1	26.7	32.4
50 to 59	19.9	23.4	27.6
60 to 69	17.2	20.0	23.8
70 to 79	15.6	18.3	20.8

Values in ml/kg/min, treadmill tests, FRIEND registry. A woman of 45 at 33 is in the top quarter for her age; a woman of 25 at 33 is between the 25th percentile and the median. The difference from men reflects body composition, heart size and haemoglobin, so women should read their own table rather than a unisex chart.

So what counts as a good VO₂ max?

For health, three thresholds are worth knowing:

Below the 25th percentile. This is the group with the highest risk. In the Cleveland Clinic cohort of 122,007 patients, low fitness carried a mortality risk comparable to smoking. Moving out of this band is the biggest return available.
At or above the median. A sensible definition of good: fitter than half of the people your age and sex.
The top quarter. A strong goal, and the band where the longevity cohorts keep finding the lowest risk.

For sport, there is no ceiling. Elite endurance athletes test far above the 75th percentile, but that is a performance target rather than a health one.

Why does my watch give a different rating?

Two reasons. First, the watch is estimating. In validation studies, Garmin and Apple Watch estimates tended to read lower than a lab test, by about 4 to 6 ml/kg/min in some groups. Second, the label beside the number comes from a different reference set. Garmin, for example, takes its ratings from The Cooper Institute, so its "good" and "excellent" do not line up exactly with FRIEND percentiles.

Neither makes the watch useless. Read the trend on the watch, and use a chart like this one to place yourself, with the caveat that a watch value a few points low may put you one band below where a lab would.

How do you move up a band?

A mix of easy volume and a little high intensity. Easy aerobic sessions build the base; one session of hard intervals a week, such as the Norwegian 4x4, raises the ceiling. Retest every six weeks with the same method, and compare yourself against your own last result before you compare yourself against the chart.

How PeakVital uses these tables

PeakVital takes your VO₂ max from your wearable or a guided field test and shows it as a percentile for your age and sex, next to grip and leg power, folded into one Vital age. It is coming soon for Android and Wear OS, in private beta.

Want this answered from your own data?

That is what PeakVital does. Three tests. One number. Your real age. In private beta — the waitlist is free.

Join the beta About PeakVital

Questions

What is a good VO2 max for a man?

In the FRIEND registry, the median is 48.0 ml/kg/min for men in their twenties, 42.4 in their thirties, 37.8 in their forties and 32.6 in their fifties. At or above the median for your age is good; the top quarter starts at 55.2, 49.2, 45.0 and 39.7 for the same decades.

What is a good VO2 max for a woman?

The FRIEND median for women is 37.6 ml/kg/min in the twenties, 30.2 in the thirties, 26.7 in the forties and 23.4 in the fifties. The top quarter starts at 44.7, 36.1, 32.4 and 27.6 for the same decades.

Is a VO2 max of 40 good?

For a man in his forties it is above the median of 37.8. For a woman in her forties it is in the top quarter, above 32.4. For a man in his twenties it is around the 25th percentile. Age and sex change the answer completely.

Why are these numbers lower than other charts?

FRIEND measured oxygen uptake directly during maximal treadmill tests. Many charts online use older norms based on predicted values, which tend to run higher. Neither is wrong, but a value should be compared against the chart that used the same kind of measurement.

Why do women have a lower VO2 max than men?

On average women have smaller hearts, lower haemoglobin and a higher share of body fat per kilogram, and VO₂ max is expressed per kilogram of body weight. The gap is about 10 ml/kg/min at the median in the twenties and narrows with age. Training raises it in both sexes in the same way.

Sources

Kaminsky L.A., Arena R., Myers J. (2015). Reference standards for cardiorespiratory fitness measured with cardiopulmonary exercise testing: data from the Fitness Registry and the Importance of Exercise National Database. Mayo Clin Proc 90(11):1515-1523. https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196(15)00642-4/pdf
Kaminsky L.A. et al. (2022). Updated reference standards for cardiorespiratory fitness measured with cardiopulmonary exercise testing: data from FRIEND. Mayo Clin Proc 97(2):285-293. https://scholarlywork.ochsner.org/display/c10559033
Garmin. About VO2 max estimates (Forerunner 970 owner's manual). https://www8.garmin.com/manuals-apac/webhelp/forerunner970/EN-SG/GUID-63837CA9-4746-4E0E-8B3F-522E4E390C06-1166.html

Hen Eytan · Founder, UPeak

Builds the UPeak apps and writes up the research behind them.