͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
| |
|
|
| There’s one report from my fitness tracking ring that I value the most — VO₂ max. It’s a powerful indicator of heart health and fitness. The higher the number, the better it is for you. I’m doing pretty well for my age with a number that puts me in the “excellent” category. I put that down to daily cycling. I want to improve my VO₂ max score, but it’ll take lots of intense work, as you’ll find out below.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Let’s run the numbers,
Tim Snaith
Newsletter Editor, Healthline
|
 |
|
Written by Tim Snaith
September 5, 2025 • 3 min read |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
|
| How to boost your fitness, reduce stress, and live longer
|
| VO₂ max measures the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use during exercise. The more oxygen you can use, the longer you can exercise before getting winded. Research shows people with higher VO₂ max live longer and have lower rates of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer. They also handle stress better and sleep more soundly.
|
| VO₂ max is measured in milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute. For a 50-year-old man, a score of 43 is excellent, while 35 is fair. For women of the same age, 37 is excellent and 30 is fair. The number typically drops by 10% per decade, but you can improve it significantly at any age.
|
| How can you measure yours?
|
| Professional VO₂ max testing costs $150 to $250 and involves exercising while wearing a mask that measures your oxygen intake. To get an indication of your own score, you could use a wearable fitness tracker to estimate VO₂ max from your heart rate data during a workout (we recommend several trackers, below).
|
| You can improve your VO₂ max with any level of aerobic exercise that gets your heart rate up, from a brisk walk to high intensity interval training. This means exercising at 90% to 95% of your maximum heart rate during intense intervals, then recovering. You can estimate your maximum heart rate by subtracting your age from 220.
|
| | | |
