Where does your number sit?

The full reference table

Percentile values for VO2 max in ml/kg/min, by age band and sex. Your own band is highlighted when you run the calculator above.

Men

VO2 Max percentiles for Men, in ml/kg/min
Age	5th	10th	25th	50th	75th	90th	95th
20-29	29	32.1	40.1	48	55.2	61.8	66.3
30-39	27.2	30.2	35.9	42.4	49.2	56.5	59.8
40-49	24.2	26.8	31.9	37.8	45	52.1	55.6
50-59	20.9	22.8	27.1	32.6	39.7	45.6	50.7
60-69	17.4	19.8	23.7	28.2	34.5	40.3	43
70-79	16.3	17.1	20.4	24.4	30.4	36.6	39.7

Women

VO2 Max percentiles for Women, in ml/kg/min
Age	5th	10th	25th	50th	75th	90th	95th
20-29	21.7	23.9	30.5	37.6	44.7	51.3	56
30-39	19	20.9	25.3	30.2	36.1	41.4	45.8
40-49	17	18.8	22.1	26.7	32.4	38.4	41.7
50-59	16	17.3	19.9	23.4	27.6	32	35.9
60-69	13.4	14.6	17.2	20	23.8	27	29.4
70-79	13.1	13.6	15.6	18.3	20.8	23.1	24.1

Why this number matters

VO2 max measures the maximum volume of oxygen your body can use per kilogram of bodyweight per minute. It is the closest thing exercise physiology has to a whole-system readout: it depends on your heart, lungs, blood, and muscle working together, so it tends to move before any one of them fails visibly.

It also declines predictably. Median VO2 max for men falls from 48.0 ml/kg/min in the 20s to 24.4 by the 70s, and for women from 37.6 to 18.3 across the same span. That decline is the reason a 55-year-old and a 30-year-old with identical numbers are in completely different situations ... and the reason a single "good VO2 max" figure quoted without an age is close to meaningless.

Roughly 18 ml/kg/min for men and 15 for women is the region where everyday independent activity starts to require near-maximal effort. Reading your number against your own age band is what tells you how much headroom you have above that.

How to measure it properly

The reference values below come from graded maximal treadmill tests with direct analysis of expired gas ... the laboratory method. You can get this done at a university exercise-physiology lab, a sports-medicine clinic, or a cardiopulmonary testing service.

Estimates from a running watch, a rowing machine, or a submaximal step test are usually within a few points for trained people and drift further for everyone else. They are still useful for tracking your own trend over time. They are less reliable for placing yourself against a population table, so treat a wearable estimate as approximate when you read the percentile.

How to read your result

The percentile answers one question: out of 100 people your age and sex, how many would you be fitter than. The 50th percentile is the median, not a target ... it is simply the middle of the reference population.

ACSM classifies the 60th to 79th percentile as Good, 80th to 94th as Excellent, and 95th and above as Superior. Below the 20th is Poor and 20th to 39th is Fair.

Where this data comes from

Source: Cooper Institute Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study
Citation: American College of Sports Medicine. ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, 11th edition (2021), Table 4.7. Normative data from The Cooper Institute, Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study, Dallas, Texas.
Reference population: More than 80,000 US adults who completed a maximal treadmill test with direct gas analysis.
Measurement note: Values are for directly measured VO2 max from a graded maximal treadmill protocol. Cycle-ergometer and field-test estimates typically read lower.
Last reviewed: 2026-09-09

VO2 Max by Age