VO2 max - what is yours and how much do you exercise?

[hamstersarse]

Just interested to know what vo2 max people have.

I’m 47, exercise a fair bit and mine is 41-42. Apple tells me that’s high, which is nice, but I don’t feel like I’m super super fit really. So I’m wondering, how high can it go for women of my age and if I really ramped up training? What is a good/realistic target for progress, if you know what I mean?

I’m 46
Mine is 39.6 and am aiming for higher
I do 4 gym classes per week, aerobics and body pump
Walk and generally try to keep active

How do you test it?

I realised that’s not really answered your question! I would keep the aerobic stuff up because that for me made the most difference to my VO2 - getting out of breath and then making sure my heart rate comes down well and quickly is also a good indicator of fitness

@HellonHeels

How do you test it?

It’s on my Apple Watch - it’s a metric it tracks when you work out It’s also on the health app

I'm 36 and my VO2max (according to my Garmin at least) is 52. I do a lot of exercise.

Mine is apparently 54.8. I'm 51.

I'm in the range of a 20 year old elite athlete, allegedly,

I'm 40 and mine is 56 however it was done with a proper VO2 max test, not going by my fitness watch which is WILDLY out.

I run 3 times, swim 3 times and cycle 3 times a week and 1 of each of those I specifically train to VO2 max (HIIT).

Mines 44, I'm just about to turn 47 in the new year and I exercise about 6-7 times a week, mainly running with a bit of walking and swimming

53.8 here (I’m 51)

My Garmin watch says 42, top 25% of my age range and gives me a fitness age of 20...

I train regularly, but am the most unfit person I know, so don't believe it 😄

I had some proper testing done a few years ago which showed my VO2, it got up to 28 which is apparently 'very poor'. That feels more accurate!

According to my Garmin mine is 43. I’m aged 50, I run several times a week wouldn’t say I’m super fit.

I'm in my 50s, and according to Garmin it's usually around 41-42

When fully race fit, it goes up to 44-46

Wrist devices aren't particularly accurate, so I tend to look at the trend, rather than believe the specific number

I'm 37 and my garmin says mine's 44! I need to up my game! I run 25k a week.

I had it formally measured about 4 yrs ago (running I think it was, breathing apparatus). IIRC, was 33.x Which was above average for my age. Fitbit reckons 41-45 now, but I know that's wrong because I'm older and the 'real' number was a lot lower.

I get about 2 hours exercise/day. My Vo2max is only so high because I've had decades of getting a alot of exercise, I reckon.

A lot of super fit people her! Scores in the 50’s….wow!

I’ve taken up swimming properly for the winter months instead of running this year and I’ve had a nice gain in vo2 max already…maybe I’ll try for 45 by Spring…I’d be proud of that!

Just to bring down the average ..33 - I’m 55 , run 3 times a week including efforts, walk 5k most days… :-( I’m just not designed for exercise.

According to my Apple Watch, mine is averaging 32, after a very long time at 31. Although I'm no athlete, I jog 5k a couple of times a week, walk regularly, see a PT fortnightly, yoga class weekly, and do Peloton spin classes in between - I basically will generally do some kind of exercise daily (because my Watch tells me I have to ), This seems very low compared to other posters on here, so I am going to assume it's because my watch is hugely inaccurate, rather than because I'm desperately unfit.

Mine is 49 according to my Garmin watch. No idea if it’s accurate or not. I’m 44 and run 5 times a week, usually somewhere between 45 and 55km a week.

My watch reckons 43. (I'm 40)
Exercise most days, run up to HM distance, running 5k in 30 mins fairly comfortably, lots of cross training.

How often you exercise or how far you run isn't necessarily an accurate indicator of your VO2 max fitness, it depends how hard you are exerting effort !

You can run 50km per week but if it's all "easy pace" your VO2 max will be lower than someone who runs 20km per week but in their VO2 max zone.

That makes sense @FrangipaniBlue, mine always goes up after tempo runs or races.

Mine tends to be the opposite, in that it goes up when I'm running a fairly fast pace but at a low HR - ie not exerting myself. What does make a difference though, is hills. Because 95% of the time I run on hills and trails, if I run on the flat my watch tends to think my Vo2 max is going up, because I'm not having to put in as much effort to run the same pace.

Mines 43. I'm 34, don't run but walk daily and cold water swim a bit.

@fellrunner85

Mine tends to be the opposite, in that it goes up when I'm running a fairly fast pace but at a low HR - ie not exerting myself. What does make a difference though, is hills. Because 95% of the time I run on hills and trails, if I run on the flat my watch tends to think my Vo2 max is going up, because I'm not having to put in as much effort to run the same pace.

This is exactly why most watches aren't accurate because they only go by what they perceive as effort not actual effort - they assume because you're going faster you must be working harder but the two don't equate, there are so many other factors such as elevation, terrain, weather and even how a person is feeling in general!

Unless people are taking all of these into account and using all the data as art of a structured programme then a vo2 max number in isolation is a meaningless way to measure level of fitness.

Unless it is measured in a lab with a mask on while you run or cycle then you have no idea.

I've just used an online calculator and got 42.

I'm disabled (arthritis in every joint) so I can't exercise and I am in no way fit.