Understanding and Improving Your VO2 Max Is Key to Optimal Health

The maximum volume of oxygen that your body can use during intense exercise, known as VO2 max, is a reflection of your overall health. A higher number means that your body has a higher ability to maximize your heart, lung, and muscle function for physical intensity and endurance.

For most people, VO2 max naturally declines with age. The best way to improve your VO2 max is with consistent and challenging physical exercise.

What Does VO2 Max Mean?

Your VO2 max is the amount of oxygen your body uses when you exercise at your maximum aerobic cardiovascular capacity. Aerobic cardiovascular exercise usually means moving fast and putting in a lot of effort, which typically causes you to breathe faster.

Your body uses oxygen and glucose (sugar) for energy. You can’t store oxygen, so you need to get oxygen replenishment with each breath you take.

Your heart pumps blood to circulate that oxygen throughout your body so your muscles and organs can use oxygen and glucose to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a molecule that your cells use for energy. Healthy lungs, a healthy heart, and strong muscles increase your ability to use oxygen—usually resulting in a higher VO2 max.

The more efficiently your body uses oxygen, the more you can perform physically. A higher VO2 max means that your body is efficient at using oxygen. Factors affecting your VO2 max include height, weight, age, and body mass index.

Even if you don’t know your current VO2 max, you can probably increase your cardiovascular fitness with exercise. An improvement in your fitness can raise your VO2 max. Most people can improve their VO2 max—except for high-level athletes, who may have already achieved their maximum level.

How Do I Measure My VO2 Max?

To accurately measure your VO2 max, you would need to go to a diagnostic clinic for an evaluation with a fitness or healthcare professional.

The gold standard test for VO2 max involves wearing a mask while exercising, usually on a treadmill, at your maximum capacity. The mask measures the amount of oxygen you inhale, which is used to calculate the amount of oxygen that your body uses during your maximal physical effort.

Several other tests can estimate your VO2 max based on algorithms correlating measurements you can obtain in different settings, ranging from testing supervised by a professional to at-home, simple tests.

Some tests that estimate VO2 max include:

• Rockport Walking Test: To perform this test, walk 1 mile as fast as possible. You can then use a formula to calculate your approximate VO2 max by entering your age, weight, sex, the time it took to complete the 1-mile walk, and your heart rate at the end of your walk.
• Cooper 1.5 Mile Run: To perform this test, you would run to complete 1.5 miles as quickly as you can and then enter your time into a formula to calculate your approximate VO2 max.
• Six-Minute Walk Test for Seniors: This test estimates VO2 max for adults over 60. During this test, you walk as far as possible for 6 minutes, and your distance is entered into an equation to estimate your VO2 max.
• Fitness Watches: Some of these devices incorporate features to help estimate your VO2 max. They may provide a VO2 max reading.

The tests that can estimate VO2 max requires complicated equations that incorporate factors such as age, height, and weight—there is no simple estimate of VO2 max based on a blood test or a simple measure of how far or how fast you walk or run.

Ways to Improve Your VO2 Max

You can improve your VO2 max through many physical activities. These methods incorporate exercise training to improve physical abilities by challenging you to increase your muscle strength and cardiovascular fitness.

Some ways to improve your VO2 max include:

• Swimming and water exercises
• Jogging or running
• Walking backwards
• Aerobics
• Pilates
• Yoga, Tai Chi
• Sports, such as pickleball, tennis, table tennis, volleyball, soccer, basketball
• Dancing
• Lifting weights

You can use many other exercises and sports to increase your VO2 max. The key is to select activities that challenge you to breathe harder and faster and exert more physical effort (such as lifting weights) than usual.

It’s always best to start gradually and increase your challenge slowly for safety and consistency. If you have any concerns about your ability to exercise or whether exercise is safe for you, ask a healthcare provider for advice and guidance about which exercises are suitable.

VO2 Max Chart by Age and Sex

There are standardized measures for VO2 max that you and your healthcare providers can use as a reflection of your health. If you are being treated for a health condition or trying to improve your fitness, changes in your VO2 max can be a helpful indicator of your progress.

Typical VO2 max differs for men and women. For most people, VO2 max declines with age. VO2 max is measured in milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute (mL/kg/min). The following tables are from data in the Fitness Registry and the Importance of Exercise National Database.

Summary 

VO2 max is a measurement of oxygen use during exercise and is a good reflection of health. While getting tested for VO2 max requires a comprehensive visit with a professional, other ways to estimate this number could provide you with some useful information.

Improving your VO2 max is widely considered beneficial because it is an indication of heart health, lung health, and muscle strength—which prevents falls, heart attacks, strokes, and dementia—and improves your quality of life.

It’s helpful to understand different measures that can reflect your overall health. However, no single authoritative measure or absolute number predicts how long you will live or how healthy you are.