Where these numbers come from
FRIEND (Fitness Registry and the Importance of Exercise National Database) pools maximal cardiopulmonary exercise tests from 34 US laboratories. The 2022 update by Kaminsky and colleagues in Mayo Clinic Proceedings covers 22,379 tests in apparently healthy adults aged 20 to 89 with no known heart disease or COPD. The table on this page is its treadmill set: 9,564 tests in men and 6,714 in women, with maximal effort defined as a respiratory exchange ratio of at least 1.0.
Every value is directly measured VO2peak from gas analysis, not an estimate from heart rate or a watch. That makes it the most solid reference we have for comparing a lab result. The paper publishes the 10th to 90th percentiles in steps of 10; we show exactly those values and interpolate linearly between them for your result.
How VO2max changes with age
The median falls in every decade for both sexes. The paper reports an average decline of 13.5% per decade on the treadmill, about 4 mL/kg/min. Men sit higher than women at every age, with the gap narrowing from 9.9 mL/kg/min at the median in the 20s to 2.2 in the 80s.
The spread is wide within each decade. A man in his 50s at the 90th percentile (43.4) is fitter than the median man in his 30s (39.7). Training moves you along that spread far more than a birthday does.
Using a watch or field-test value
Garmin, Apple Watch and other devices estimate VO2max from pace, heart rate and your profile, and field tests like the Cooper run predict it from distance covered. These are estimates, not lab measurements, so treat the percentile as approximate if your number did not come from a lab. Our VO2max estimator turns a 12-minute Cooper test into a number you can check here.
The FRIEND values come from treadmill tests. Cycle-ergometer VO2max tends to run lower (the paper puts the gap at about 4.5 mL/kg/min on average), so a bike-lab result will look worse here than it is.
About the categories
The paper gives percentiles, not labels. To make a result readable we name the five 20-point bands: very low (below the 20th), low (20th to 40th), average (40th to 60th), high (60th to 80th) and very high (80th and up). Those names are ours; the percentile is the paper's.
How it works
- 1Enter your age and sex. The registry covers ages 20 to 89 in 10-year groups.
- 2Enter your VO2max. In mL/kg/min, ideally from a lab test. No number yet? Use the VO2max estimator first.
- 3Read your percentile. Your value is placed between the two nearest published percentiles by linear interpolation. Below the 10th or above the 90th we say so, because the paper publishes nothing beyond them.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good VO2max for my age?
Above the median is better than half of healthy adults your age: 46.5 mL/kg/min for men in their 20s, 39.7 in their 30s, 35.3 in their 40s, 29.2 in their 50s and 24.6 in their 60s. For women the medians are 36.6, 28.3, 25.7, 22.9 and 19.6. The 80th percentile is a strong target: 54.5, 50.0, 45.2, 38.3 and 32.0 for men, 44.8, 37.0, 33.0, 28.4 and 24.3 for women.
What is an excellent VO2max?
The 90th percentile marks the top 10% of healthy adults: 58.6 mL/kg/min for men aged 20 to 29, 55.5 at 30 to 39, 50.8 at 40 to 49 and 43.4 at 50 to 59. For women it is 49.0, 42.1, 37.8 and 32.4.
Is my Garmin or Apple Watch VO2max accurate enough to use here?
It gives a rough placement. Watch values are estimates from heart rate and pace, not gas analysis, so treat the percentile as approximate. A lab test is the only way to get a number measured the way the FRIEND data were. Our posts on how Garmin and Apple Watch calculate VO2max explain what goes into the watch number.
Why are these values lower than older VO2max charts?
The 2022 FRIEND update draws on more labs and more than twice as many treadmill tests as the 2015 edition, and its treadmill standards came out 1.5 to 4.6 mL/kg/min lower. The authors attribute this to a more representative sample, not to people getting less fit.
Does this apply outside the US?
The data are from US laboratories. The authors note that fitness differs between countries and advise caution when applying the standards elsewhere.
Sources
- Kaminsky LA, Arena R, Myers J, et al. (2022). Updated Reference Standards for Cardiorespiratory Fitness Measured with Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing: Data from FRIEND. Mayo Clin Proc 97(2):285-293. Table 3, treadmill, RER of 1.0 or more.
Last updated 6 September 2026.