Estimate your VO2 max in ml/kg/min from a resting heart rate, a Cooper 12-minute run or a 1.5-mile run test, then see your fitness category against age- and sex-based reference ranges.
The scale runs from 20 to 70 ml/kg/min. The marker shows your estimated VO2 max; the coloured bands are the fitness categories for your age group and sex.
| Age group | Poor | Fair | Good | Excellent | Superior |
|---|
A higher VO2 max means a stronger aerobic engine. Values fall with age and are typically a few points higher for men than women at the same fitness level.
For beginners: how to read this result
Describe the task to the AI assistant and continue from the result.
Open AI assistant →To get a result, pick one of the three estimation methods and load a preset or enter your own numbers. Age and sex are always needed; the remaining fields change with the method you choose, so only the inputs that matter for that test are shown.
The three methods and their formulas
VO2 max is the highest rate at which your body can take in and use oxygen during hard exercise, measured in millilitres of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute. A true VO2 max needs a laboratory treadmill test, so this tool predicts it with three field-validated formulas.
- Resting heart rate: the simplest method, with no running needed. It first finds your maximum heart rate as 208 minus 0.7 times age (the Tanaka formula), then estimates VO2 max as 15.3 multiplied by maximum heart rate divided by resting heart rate.
- Cooper 12-minute run test: you run as far as you can on a flat course in 12 minutes. VO2 max equals the distance in metres minus 504.9, divided by 44.73. A miles option converts the distance for you.
- 1.5-mile run test: VO2 max equals 88.02, minus 0.1656 times body weight in kilograms, plus 2.767 for men or 0 for women, minus 3.408 times the finish time in minutes.
Fitness category and the reference table
The headline number on its own means little without context. The calculator places your result into a category – Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent or Superior – using reference ranges that depend on both your age group and your sex, because aerobic capacity falls with age and differs between men and women at the same fitness level. The visual band scale puts a marker at your value, and the reference table highlights your age band and the category cell you landed in.
How to test well
Measure resting heart rate first thing in the morning while still lying down. For the run tests, warm up, choose a flat measured course, pace evenly and give a genuine maximal effort, since a soft effort understates your VO2 max. Re-test with the same method every six to eight weeks to track how training changes your aerobic fitness.
What is not included
This is an estimate from population formulas, not a laboratory gas-exchange measurement. It does not account for altitude, heat, terrain, illness, sleep, medication or individual physiology, and the resting heart rate method is the least precise of the three. Maximal running tests are strenuous. People who are new to exercise, are over 40, or have any heart, lung or other health condition should speak to a qualified clinician before attempting a hard effort.