What is VO2 max, and what’s a good number for your age?

Quick answer: VO2 max is how much oxygen your body can use when you’re working as hard as you possibly can. It’s one of the best single measures of your overall fitness, and people with higher numbers tend to live longer. A lab test measures it directly while you run or cycle with a mask on, takes about 8 to 12 minutes of exercise, and costs $100 to $675 at clinics that publish a price. The good news: it’s a number you can raise.

See the VO2 max chart by age ↓

What VO2 max actually means

Think of VO2 max as the size of your engine. Oxygen is the fuel. Your lungs bring it in, your heart pumps it around in your blood, and your muscles burn it to move you. VO2 max is how much fuel that whole engine can burn at full throttle.

A bigger engine doesn’t just matter for athletes. It’s what lets you climb stairs, carry groceries or keep up on a hike without running out of breath. Every daily task uses a slice of your maximum, so the bigger your maximum, the easier everything else feels.

The number is written in milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute (mL/kg/min). You don’t need to remember that. Higher is better, and the useful comparison is with people your age and with your own past results.

Why longevity clinics care about it

Because few numbers line up with a long life as closely as this one.

In a study of more than 122,000 adults who took a treadmill test, the least fit people were about five times as likely to die during the study as the fittest. Being unfit carried more risk than smoking, diabetes or heart disease did in the same study. And there was no ceiling: the fitter people were, the better they did. The American Heart Association has suggested that doctors treat fitness like a vital sign, next to blood pressure and heart rate.

One honest caveat: these studies show a strong link, not proof that raising your number by a set amount adds a set number of years. Fit people also tend to do many other healthy things. Still, it’s one of the strongest signals we have, and unlike your age or your genes, you can change it.

What’s a good VO2 max for your age?

VO2 max naturally falls as we get older. In a large US registry of lab tests, the typical man in his 70s had about half the VO2 max of the typical man in his 20s, and the same was true for women. Training can’t stop that slide, but it can start you from a higher point and slow it down.

Have a number from a lab test? Pick your age and sex below to see where it sits.

Keep in mind that these ranges come from people who had a lab test done, not from everyone, and different labs use different reference tables. So treat your percentile as a rough guide. The comparison that matters most is you against your own last test.

What the test is like

You run on a treadmill or ride a stationary bike while wearing a mask that measures the air you breathe in and out. It starts easy and gets a little harder every minute or two. After about 8 to 12 minutes, you reach the point where you can’t keep going, and that’s your peak.

Expect to sweat, expect the last couple of minutes to be hard, and expect wobbly legs afterwards. Wear workout clothes and good shoes, skip a big meal and caffeine for a few hours before, and don’t do a hard workout the day before.

Because the test asks for a true all-out effort, a good clinic asks about your health first. If you have heart disease, chest pain or high blood pressure that isn’t under control, you may need a doctor present or a different kind of test. That screening is a sign of a careful clinic, not a hassle.

Lab test vs your smartwatch

Your watch may already show you a VO2 max. That’s an estimate, worked out from your pace and heart rate. It doesn’t measure oxygen at all.

How far off can a watch be? In one 2025 study, the Apple Watch read about 6 points lower than a lab test on average, roughly 13% off. That doesn’t make your watch useless. If its number climbs over a few months, you’re probably getting fitter. Just don’t treat a single watch reading as your real VO2 max.

What a VO2 max test costs

At the clinics we track that publish a price, a VO2 max test costs $100 to $675, and a typical price is about $170. You usually pay for it yourself, with no membership needed. The price depends on how much the clinic includes, from the test alone to a full results review and a training plan built on your numbers.

Many clinics let you book a VO2 max test and a DEXA scan in the same visit: one shows what your body can do, the other what it’s made of. For more on what clinics charge, see how much longevity clinics cost. Prices change over time, so check with the clinic before you book.

Can you raise your VO2 max?

Yes, for most people, and that’s the best part of measuring it.

What tends to work is a mix of two kinds of cardio. Most of it is steady, comfortable effort you could keep up while talking, like brisk walking, easy cycling or jogging. A smaller part is harder intervals, short bursts where talking gets tough, with rest in between. US guidelines suggest adults get 150 to 300 minutes of moderate activity a week, or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous activity, plus strength training twice a week.

People who start from a lower fitness level often see the biggest gains. Either way, it takes months of steady effort to show up in a retest, not weeks. A retest about three to six months after you change your routine is a good way to see if it’s working.

What the number can’t tell you

A VO2 max test measures how much your body can do. It doesn’t look inside your heart’s arteries, so a great result doesn’t mean they’re clear. Very fit people can still have plaque, and the test doesn’t replace the heart screenings your doctor recommends.

It also can’t tell you on its own why a number is low. That could come from being out of shape, a heart or lung issue, or just a bad day. A clinician reading the full test can usually help sort that out. And small changes between tests, a point or two, can come from sleep, a different machine or even switching from a treadmill to a bike, so look for a trend rather than reading too much into one result.

Finally, VO2 max is one part of fitness. Strength, balance and muscle matter too, which is why many clinics pair it with grip strength or a DEXA scan.

Questions to ask before you book

1. Is this a full lab test with a mask, or an estimate?
2. Who checks my health beforehand, and who’s in the room during the test?
3. Will my retest use the same machine and the same protocol?
4. Who goes over the results with me, and will I get a plan?