VO2 Max Calculator

VO2 max is the maximum volume of oxygen your body can take in and use per minute, scaled to body weight (millilitres per kilogram per minute). It is the clearest single number for cardiorespiratory fitness. A laboratory measures it directly on a graded treadmill with a gas mask; this tool estimates it from a field test you can do yourself, using regressions published in peer-reviewed journals. Pick the method that matches what you can measure.

12-minute run (Cooper, 1968). Run as far as you can on flat ground for exactly 12 minutes and enter the distance in metres. The estimate is:

VO2max = (distance in m − 504.9) ÷ 44.73

1-mile walk (Rockport / Kline, 1987). Walk one mile (1,609 m) as fast as you can, then take your pulse in the first seconds after finishing. The equation uses weight in pounds (W), age (A), sex (S = 1 for male, 0 for female), walk time in decimal minutes (T) and finishing heart rate (HR):

VO2max = 132.853 − 0.0769·W − 0.3877·A + 6.315·S − 3.2649·T − 0.1565·HR

Resting heart rate (Uth, 2004). With no exercise at all, VO2max ≈ 15.3 × (HRmax ÷ HRrest). This tool estimates your maximal heart rate with the Tanaka formula (208 − 0.7 × age), which is more accurate across ages than the old 220 − age rule, and divides it by the resting heart rate you measure on waking. It is the least precise method, but needs only a pulse count.

The result is then converted to METs(METs = VO2max ÷ 3.5, since one MET is defined as 3.5 ml/kg/min) and rated against The Cooper Institute's published fitness norms for your age decade and sex, which return one of six bands from Very Poor to Superior. To keep every result transparent, the calculator prints the exact formula with your own numbers substituted, and — for the Cooper test — cross-checks the metric estimate against Cooper's imperial (mile-based) form so a slip cannot pass silently.

• Cooper KH. A means of assessing maximal oxygen intake. JAMA 1968;203(3):201-204.
• Kline GM et al. Estimation of VO2max from a one-mile track walk. Med Sci Sports Exerc 1987;19(3):253-259.
• Uth N et al. Estimation of VO2max from the ratio between HRmax and HRrest. Eur J Appl Physiol 2004;91:111-115.
• Tanaka H et al. Age-predicted maximal heart rate revisited. J Am Coll Cardiol 2001;37(1):153-156.
• The Cooper Institute — VO2 max fitness norms by age and sex (percentile categories).

The four regressions and the Cooper Institute rating bands were last cross-checked against these sources on 2026-07-10. These are fixed, published equations and are not revised on a schedule.