Metric

VO2 Max

What counts as a good VO2 max for your age, how much to trust your watch's estimate, and why it matters.

VO2 max is the closest thing a wearable gives you to a single fitness number, and it's one of the more researched metrics when it comes to long-term health. Your watch only estimates it, with varying accuracy. Here's what's normal for your age, how the estimate is made, and what the research connects it to.

The benchmark
VO2 Max
VO2 Max by Age: What's Considered Good?

Where your number sits by age, and how far to trust your watch's estimate.

See how you compare
Example result
Man · 50 · 38
about the 69th percentile, Good for your age
ACSM data, 80,000+ adults
Research Desk · live file
See the full VO2 Max evidence file
Every claim rated Established, Emerging, Uncertain, Insufficient, or Unsupported, with a research log reviewed against new studies on a rolling basis.
Open the Research Desk →
More on VO2 Max
What Is VO2 Max, and Why Does the Research Take It So Seriously?
Research established VO2 max as a predictor of mortality long before wearables started estimating it from your wrist.
How VO2 Max Is Actually Calculated
The number your watch estimates and the number a lab measures are not the same thing, and the research on what each predicts is more specific than most trackers let on.
VO2 Max Is One of the Strongest Predictors of How Long You Live
Across decades of data and millions of observations, low cardiorespiratory fitness shows up as a mortality risk factor that rivals smoking.
How Consumer Wearables Model VO2 Max
Your watch builds a statistical portrait of your aerobic fitness without ever measuring a breath of oxygen.
Other metrics
Heart Rate Variability Resting Heart Rate Sleep VO2 Max