What Is a Good VO2 Max? Norm Ranges by Age and Sex
A good VO2 max is roughly 43+ ml/kg/min for men and 36+ for women. See normal VO2 max ranges by age and sex, plus poor-to-elite fitness categories explained.
A good VO2 max is roughly 43 ml/kg/min or higher for men and 36 ml/kg/min or higher for women, though the threshold drops with age. Most sedentary adults score 30–40, well-trained athletes reach 50–60, and elite endurance athletes hit 70–85+. VO2 max measures the maximum oxygen your body can use during all-out exercise — the single best lab marker of aerobic fitness.
What VO2 Max Measures
VO2 max is the maximum volume of oxygen (in milliliters) your body can take in and use per kilogram of body weight per minute — written as ml/kg/min. The more oxygen your muscles can extract and burn, the more energy you can produce aerobically, and the longer you can sustain hard effort.
It reflects the whole oxygen pipeline: how much air your lungs move, how much blood your heart pumps, how efficiently your blood carries oxygen, and how well your muscles use it. Because it's normalized to body weight, VO2 max lets you compare fitness fairly across people of different sizes — and it's the gold-standard predictor of endurance performance and long-term cardiovascular health.
Good VO2 Max by Age and Sex
VO2 max declines naturally with age, so "good" depends on how old you are. The tables below show approximate good thresholds (around the top 25–30% for each group) in ml/kg/min:
| Age group | Men (good ≈) | Women (good ≈) |
|---|---|---|
| 20–29 | 48–55+ | 40–46+ |
| 30–39 | 45–52+ | 38–44+ |
| 40–49 | 43–50+ | 36–42+ |
| 50–59 | 40–46+ | 33–38+ |
| 60–69 | 36–42+ | 30–35+ |
| 70+ | 32–38+ | 27–32+ |
A 25-year-old man scoring 50 and a 60-year-old man scoring 40 are both in great shape for their age. The same logic applies to women, whose values run roughly 8–12 ml/kg/min lower than men's at every age, mainly due to differences in body composition, blood volume, and hemoglobin.
VO2 Max Categories: Poor to Elite
Most fitness assessments sort VO2 max into bands from poor to superior. The ranges below are typical for healthy adults aged 30–49; younger adults sit a few points higher and older adults a few points lower:
| Category | Men (ml/kg/min) | Women (ml/kg/min) |
|---|---|---|
| Poor | < 35 | < 28 |
| Fair | 35–40 | 28–33 |
| Good | 41–46 | 34–39 |
| Excellent | 47–53 | 40–46 |
| Superior | 54–60 | 47–53 |
| Elite | 60+ | 53+ |
Crossing from "fair" into "good" is the most meaningful jump for everyday health — it's where cardiovascular risk drops sharply. Moving into "excellent" and beyond is largely the domain of dedicated endurance training.
Typical Values: Sedentary, Trained, and Elite
Where you land depends mostly on training history and genetics:
- Sedentary adults: ~30–40 ml/kg/min. Enough for daily life, but limited stamina under sustained effort.
- Recreationally active: ~40–50. Regular cardio puts most people here within a few months.
- Well-trained amateurs: ~50–60. Serious runners, cyclists, and triathletes who train consistently.
- Elite endurance athletes: ~70–85+. Tour de France cyclists, Olympic distance runners, and cross-country skiers, with the highest recorded values approaching 90–96.
For context, world-class male cross-country skiers and cyclists have posted some of the highest numbers ever measured, while top female endurance athletes typically range from the high 60s to mid-70s. These extremes require a strong genetic ceiling on top of years of high-volume training.
How to Find Yours
There are three common ways to estimate or measure VO2 max:
- Lab test (most accurate): A graded treadmill or bike test with a mask measuring expired gases gives a direct, precise reading.
- Field and submaximal tests: Estimates from a Cooper 12-minute run, 1.5-mile run, Rockport walk, or a recent race result. Less exact but free and easy to repeat.
- Wearables: Many GPS watches estimate VO2 max from heart rate and pace. Convenient for tracking trends, though absolute values can be off by several points.
For a quick estimate from a run, walk, or race time, use the VO2 Max Calculator → and compare your result to the tables above.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good VO2 max for my age? For a man in his 20s, a good VO2 max is roughly 48+ ml/kg/min; for a woman, about 40+. Those thresholds drop by 2–4 points each decade, so always compare against your own age and sex band rather than a single number.
Is a VO2 max of 50 good? Yes. A VO2 max of 50 is good to excellent for most men and excellent to superior for most women. It reflects solid endurance fitness well above the sedentary average of 30–40.
What is the average VO2 max? The average for a healthy, moderately active adult is around 35–45 ml/kg/min for men and 30–38 for women, decreasing with age. Sedentary people often fall at the lower end of those ranges.
Can you improve your VO2 max? Yes. Most people can raise VO2 max by 10–20% with consistent aerobic and interval training, with the biggest gains coming early. Genetics set the upper ceiling, but training determines how close you get to it.
Check Your VO2 Max
Estimate your aerobic fitness in seconds and see which category you land in:
Related Guides
- How to Improve VO2 Max — Training methods that move the number
- How to Calculate VO2 Max — Formulas and field tests explained