VO2 Max Calculator (Fitness Tests)

About the VO2 Max Calculator (Fitness Tests)

VO₂ max — the most oxygen your body can use per kilogram per minute — is the usual measure of aerobic (cardiorespiratory) fitness. A laboratory measures it with a gas analyser during an all-out treadmill test; this calculator estimates it from the field tests in published research: the Cooper 12-minute run, the 1.5-mile run, the Rockport one-mile walk, the Queens College step test and the heart-rate ratio method, which needs no exercise at all.

You get the estimate in mL/kg/min and METs, the working of the equation, and — for ages 20 to 79 — the percentile against laboratory-measured VO₂ max of thousands of healthy adults in the FRIEND registry. Everything is calculated in your browser.

The five tests

• Cooper 12-minute run: cover as much distance as you can in 12 minutes, ideally on a 400 m track. VO₂max = (distance in metres − 504.9) ÷ 44.73.
• 1.5-mile run: run 2,414 m (six laps of a 400 m track plus 14 m) as fast as you can. VO₂max = 3.5 + 483 ÷ time in minutes (ACSM).
• Rockport one-mile walk: walk 1,609 m as fast as you can without running and take your pulse at the finish. VO₂max = 132.853 − 0.0769 × weight (lb) − 0.3877 × age + 6.315 × sex (men 1, women 0) − 3.2649 × time (min) − 0.1565 × heart rate. It was developed in 343 healthy adults aged 30–69 (Kline et al.).
• Queens College step test: step up and down on a 41.3 cm (16¼ in) step for 3 minutes — 24 steps a minute for men, 22 for women (a metronome at 96 or 88 beats a minute, one step per four beats) — then count your pulse for 15 seconds from 5 to 20 seconds after stopping, and multiply by 4. Men: 111.33 − 0.42 × HR; women: 65.81 − 0.1847 × HR.
• Heart-rate ratio: VO₂max = 15.3 × maximum heart rate ÷ resting heart rate (Uth et al.). Without a measured maximum, the calculator uses 208 − 0.7 × age (Tanaka et al.). Measure your resting rate lying quietly in the morning.

How accurate are field tests?

Each equation predicts the average VO₂ max of people like those it was developed in, so individual results can be several units off. In the original studies the walk test’s standard error of the estimate was 0.325 L/min for its equation in litres per minute (the per-kilogram equation used here was reported as similarly accurate), and the heart-rate ratio’s 2.7 mL/kg/min with a measured maximum heart rate or 4.7 with an age-predicted one; the ratio was derived in well-trained men aged 21–51. The step test matched measured VO₂ max closely in 30 young Indian men (predicted 39.3, measured 39.8 mL/kg/min), but in 40 young Indian women the standard equation did not agree well (Chatterjee et al.). Repeating the same test under the same conditions is the most reliable way to track your own change.

Percentiles and METs

Percentiles compare your estimate with the FRIEND registry’s reference standards: treadmill VO₂ max measured with gas analysis in 7,783 US adults without known cardiovascular disease (some had other conditions, such as diabetes or obesity), by sex and decade of age from 20 to 79 (Kaminsky, Arena & Myers, Table 3). The calculator interpolates between the published 5th, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th and 95th percentiles. A later update with 16,278 treadmill tests reported values 1.5–4.6 mL/kg/min lower, so against it the same result would rank a little higher.

METs = VO₂ max ÷ 3.5, because 1 MET is defined as 3.5 mL of oxygen per kg per minute.

Before an all-out test

The Cooper test and the 1.5-mile run are maximal efforts. If you have a heart or lung condition, chest pain, dizziness or high blood pressure, or have not exercised for a long time, talk to a doctor first — or start with the walk test or the heart-rate ratio. Warm up, stop if you feel unwell, and do not use heart-rate methods if you take medicine that slows your heart (such as a beta blocker).

Sources

• Cooper KH. A means of assessing maximal oxygen intake. JAMA 203(3):201-4 — equation as printed in Brame J et al., Int J Environ Res Public Health 19:1393 (PMC8835149)
• ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription — 1.5-mile equation as printed in Chizewski A et al., Int J Environ Res Public Health 18:13400 (PMC8704463)
• Kline GM et al. Estimation of VO2max from a one-mile track walk, gender, age, and body weight. Med Sci Sports Exerc 19(3):253-9 (PubMed 3600239) — equation as printed in Predovan D et al., Front Psychol (PMC8595132)
• McArdle WD et al. Med Sci Sports 4(4):182-6 — protocol and equations as printed in Park K-S, Lee M-G, J Exerc Nutrition Biochem 19(2):81-90 (PMC4523809)
• Chatterjee S et al. Br J Sports Med 38:289-91 (PMC1724834); Indian J Med Res 121:32-5 (PubMed 15713976)
• Uth N et al. Estimation of VO2max from the ratio between HRmax and HRrest — the Heart Rate Ratio Method. Eur J Appl Physiol 91:111-5 (PubMed 14624296)
• Tanaka H, Monahan KD, Seals DR. Age-predicted maximal heart rate revisited. J Am Coll Cardiol 37:153-6
• Kaminsky LA, Arena R, Myers J. Reference standards for cardiorespiratory fitness measured with cardiopulmonary exercise testing: data from FRIEND. Mayo Clin Proc 90(11):1515-23 · Kaminsky LA et al. Updated reference standards … Mayo Clin Proc 97(2):285-93 (PubMed 34809986)

Limitations

• Field tests estimate VO₂ max; they do not measure it. Expect differences of several mL/kg/min from a laboratory test.
• Results depend on effort, pacing, weather, the surface and how accurately the distance, time and pulse are measured.
• Percentiles are available for ages 20–79 and compare with laboratory treadmill tests of US adults.
• This is general information about fitness, not a medical assessment.

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