What Is a Good VO2 Max for Your Age? What I See in Testing
A patient came in last spring sure he would ace his test. He was 52, ran four mornings a week in the hills around Calabasas, and hadn't missed a workout in months.
His VO2 max came back average for his age. Not bad. Just average.
He was frustrated, and I understood why. He was doing the work. But running the same easy pace every day had made him good at that pace and not much else. His ceiling hadn't moved in years.
That test changed how he trained. It's also why VO2 max is one of the first things I look at when someone tells me they want to live well into their 80s and 90s.
What VO2 max actually measures
VO2 max is the most oxygen your body can use during hard exercise. Your lungs bring oxygen in, your heart pumps it out, and your muscles burn it for fuel. VO2 max tells us how well that whole system works together when you push it.
It's measured in milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute. A higher number means a bigger engine.
Here's what that means in real life. Carrying groceries up the stairs. Keeping up with your grandkids. Hiking Malibu Creek without stopping every ten minutes. These all depend on how much engine you have left. And that engine shrinks with age unless you work to keep it.
Why it predicts how long you live
In 2018, Cleveland Clinic researchers looked at more than 122,000 adults who had treadmill tests and followed them for years. People in the top fitness group had about 80% lower risk of death than people in the bottom group.
The part that stuck with me: low fitness carried as much risk as smoking, diabetes, or heart disease. In some comparisons, more. And they found no upper limit. The fitter people were, the better they did, even into their 70s.
A large 2009 review in JAMA, covering about 100,000 people, put it another way. Every small step up in fitness, about 3.5 points of VO2 max, was tied to roughly 13% lower risk of death.
That's why I think of VO2 max as one of the most useful longevity numbers we have. Unlike your genes, you can change it.
What is a good VO2 max for your age?
These numbers come from FRIEND, a national registry of more than 16,000 lab-grade treadmill tests published in 2022. "Average" is the middle of the pack. "Top 10%" is where I'd like most of my patients to aim over time.
Men (mL/kg/min)
30 to 39: average 39.7, top 10% 55.5
40 to 49: average 35.3, top 10% 50.8
50 to 59: average 29.2, top 10% 43.4
60 to 69: average 24.6, top 10% 37.1
70 to 79: average 20.6, top 10% 29.4
Women (mL/kg/min)
30 to 39: average 28.3, top 10% 42.1
40 to 49: average 25.7, top 10% 37.8
50 to 59: average 22.9, top 10% 32.4
60 to 69: average 19.6, top 10% 27.3
70 to 79: average 17.2, top 10% 22.8
Look at how the average drops by about 3 to 6 points every decade. Now look at the top 10%. A fit 60-year-old man scores higher than an average 40-year-old.
That's the goal. Not to beat a 25-year-old. To carry the fitness of someone 15 or 20 years younger into the decades when it matters most.
Your watch is guessing
Most people first see a VO2 max number on an Apple Watch, Garmin, or Whoop. Those numbers are estimates. The watch looks at your heart rate and pace and makes an educated guess. They're useful for watching trends, but they can be off, sometimes by a lot.
In our Calabasas office, we measure it directly with PNOE. You wear a mask that analyzes every breath while you ride or run at increasing effort. It tells us your actual VO2 max, not a guess.
It also shows things a watch can't. Your heart rate training zones, built from your own breathing. Whether you burn fat or carbs at easy effort. And where your system hits its limit, whether that's your heart, your lungs, or your muscles.
That last piece is what changed the plan for the runner I mentioned. He didn't need more miles. He needed a different kind of training.
How to raise your VO2 max
The good news is that VO2 max responds to training at any age. It takes two kinds of work.
Build the base with easy cardio. Most of your weekly time should be at a pace where you can still talk in full sentences. Think brisk walking, easy cycling, or a light jog. Three to four hours a week is a good target. This builds the foundation.
Raise the ceiling with hard intervals. Once or twice a week, push hard. A well-studied version is the Norwegian 4x4: four minutes hard, three minutes easy, repeated four times. Hard means you could say a few words, but you wouldn't want to.
Keep your muscle. Strength training doesn't raise VO2 max directly. But muscle is where oxygen gets used, and losing it makes everything harder as you age.
Retest. I recheck VO2 max every 6 to 12 months. Seeing the number move is one of the best motivators I know.
The intervals are what most people skip, and it's usually what's missing. In a Norwegian study of 1,500 adults in their 70s, the group doing 4x4 intervals twice a week had the best fitness gains over five years.
If you have heart disease, chest pain, or haven't exercised in a while, talk to your physician before starting hard intervals. That's exactly the kind of thing we plan together.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good VO2 max for a 50-year-old?
For men in their 50s, the average is about 29 mL/kg/min and the top 10% is above 43. For women in their 50s, the average is about 23 and the top 10% is above 32. Aim for the top 25% or higher.
Is the VO2 max on my Apple Watch or Garmin accurate?
It's an estimate based on heart rate and pace. It's helpful for tracking trends over time, but it can be off. A breath-by-breath test like PNOE measures it directly.
How fast can I improve my VO2 max?
Most people see a measurable change in 8 to 12 weeks of consistent training that includes intervals. People starting from a lower fitness level usually improve fastest.
Can you raise VO2 max after 60?
Yes. Studies of adults in their 60s and 70s show real gains with regular interval training. It's never too late to start, though it's smart to check with your physician first.
How often should I test my VO2 max?
Every 6 to 12 months works well for most people. That's often enough to see whether your training is working.
Where can I get a VO2 max test near Calabasas?
White Olive offers PNOE metabolic and VO2 testing at our Calabasas office on Ventura Boulevard. Testing is available to members and non-members.
Know your number
Most annual physicals never measure fitness. They check your blood pressure, run a few labs, and send you home. But one of the strongest predictors of how long and how well you'll live never gets looked at.
At White Olive, VO2 testing is part of how we build a longevity plan for patients in Calabasas, Hidden Hills, and the surrounding communities. We test, we train with a plan, and we retest.
You can't change your age. You can change how old your body acts.
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