Estimate your VO2 max from a Cooper, 1.5-mile, Rockport, or resting-heart-rate test, then see your fitness level ranked by age and sex.
Pick a test to see how it works, then enter your own numbers.
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VO2 max is the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use during intense exercise, measured in milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute (ml/kg/min). It's the single best measure of aerobic fitness — and one of the strongest predictors of long-term health. A lab test is the gold standard, but you can estimate it well from a simple field test. This calculator supports four: a no-exercise resting-heart-rate estimate, the Cooper 12-minute run, a 1.5-mile run, and the Rockport 1-mile walk. Enter your test result with your age and sex, and it returns your VO2 max plus exactly where you rank — Poor to Superior — against ACSM norms for people your age and sex.
Each field test maps a simple performance to an estimated VO2 max. The Cooper test uses how far you run in 12 minutes: VO2 max = (distance in meters − 504.9) ÷ 44.73. The 1.5-mile run test uses your time: VO2 max = 483 ÷ time in minutes + 3.5. The Rockport walk test uses your weight, age, sex, walk time, and finishing heart rate. The resting-heart-rate (Uth) method needs no exercise at all: VO2 max = 15.3 × (max heart rate ÷ resting heart rate), where max heart rate is estimated as 208 − 0.7 × age. Field estimates land within about 3–5 ml/kg/min of a lab value — accurate enough to benchmark and track. What counts as good depends on age and sex: a 'good' VO2 max is roughly 47+ for men and 41+ for women in their 20s, declining about 1 point per year per decade. Elite endurance athletes reach 70–85+.
Cooper Test Formula
Sanity-check the VO2 max your Garmin or Apple Watch reports against a field test.
See whether your aerobic fitness is good, average, or poor for your age and sex.
Re-test through a training block to confirm your aerobic capacity is rising.
Estimate VO2 max from resting heart rate alone when you can't do a run test.
Use the norms table to target the next fitness level for your age group.
Understand a key marker linked to long-term cardiovascular health.
Estimate your aerobic capacity from a simple field test — or with no exercise at all.
Cooper run, 1.5-mile run, Rockport walk, or resting heart rate — use whichever you can do.
See your fitness level (Poor to Superior) against ACSM norms for your age and sex.
A complete by-age, by-sex norms table shows exactly where you fall and what to aim for.
Re-test over time to see your aerobic fitness improve as you train.
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VO2 max is the maximum rate at which your body can take in and use oxygen during hard exercise, expressed in milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute (ml/kg/min). It reflects how well your heart, lungs, and muscles deliver and use oxygen, and it's the standard measure of aerobic (cardiovascular) fitness.
It depends on age and sex. For men in their 20s, a good VO2 max is roughly 47+ ml/kg/min; for women the same age, about 41+. It declines with age — by the 50s, around 38+ for men and 32+ for women is good. The norms table above shows the full Poor-to-Superior ranges for your age and sex.
Use a field test. The Cooper test (how far you run in 12 minutes), a timed 1.5-mile run, or the Rockport 1-mile walk each map to a VO2 max estimate. If you can't exercise, the resting-heart-rate method estimates it from your max and resting heart rates. This calculator supports all four.
The Cooper test, developed for the US Air Force in 1968, measures how far you can run in 12 minutes. VO2 max = (distance in meters − 504.9) ÷ 44.73. So running 2,600 meters estimates a VO2 max of about 47 ml/kg/min.
Field-test estimates typically land within 3–5 ml/kg/min of a lab-measured value — accurate enough to benchmark your fitness and track changes over time. The resting-heart-rate method is the least precise but needs no exercise. For an exact figure, a lab VO2 max test is the gold standard.
Regular aerobic training improves VO2 max, especially a mix of steady cardio and high-intensity intervals (such as 4×4-minute efforts near your max heart rate). Consistency matters most; beginners can gain 15–20% over a few months, while trained athletes improve more slowly.
Elite endurance athletes have very high VO2 max values — typically 70–85+ ml/kg/min for men and 60–75+ for women. Top cross-country skiers and cyclists have recorded some of the highest values ever measured, above 90.
Yes. VO2 max naturally declines roughly 10% per decade after about age 30, mostly because maximum heart rate falls and muscle mass decreases. Staying active dramatically slows the decline, and many fit older adults have a higher VO2 max than sedentary people decades younger.