A Good VO2max Charts by: Age, Gender, Sport and Athlete Fitness

Whether a VO2max of 50 is good depends on your age and gender. Moreover, while average VO2max values tell you something about your health, athletes should compare their VO2max with other athletes, not the general population. That’s why in this article we provide numerous VO2max comparison charts, based on age and gender, for both athletes and nonathletes. BONUS: elite athlete VO2max records.

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Before comparing your VO2max rating with VO2max normative values, first make sure you understand what VO2max is, and how it affects performance.

Normative VO2max data by age and gender

When you want to know whether your VO2 max is average, good or bad, you need to take age and gender into account. Athletes should also compare their VO2max with other athletes, not the average population.

Before we have a closer look at how sex (male/female), age and sport affect VO2max normative data, let’s first have a look at the VO2max tables.

What is a good VO2max by age for males?

On average, a good VO2max for men ranges between 30-40 ml/kg/min. Depending on your age, a VO2max above 35 ml/kg/min is considered fit for males.

Men who wonder whether they have a good VO2max can compare their own VO2max with the following norm values by age. Keep in mind that these VO2max scores are for nonathletes. They tell you something about whether your VO2max is healthy, instead of race competitive. Scroll further down this article to get VO2max ranges for male athletes!

VO2max norms for men

Age	Poor	Fair	Average	Good	Excellent
≤29	≤ 24.9	25-33.9	34-43.9	44-52.9	53
30-39	≤ 22.9	23-30.9	31-41.9	42-49.9	50
40-49	≤ 19.9	20-26.9	27-38.9	39-44.9	45
50-59	≤ 17.9	18-24.9	25-37.9	36-42.9	43
60-69	≤ 15.9	16-22.9	23-35.9	36-40.9	41

Male VO2max classification based on data from scientific literature for nonathletes.

What is a good VO2max by age for females?

On average, a good VO2max for women ranges between 25-35 ml/kg/min. Depending on your age, a VO2max above 30 ml/kg/min is considered fit for females.

Women who want to know whether their VO2max is good for their age can compare their own VO2max with the following VO2max ranges by age. Keep in mind that these VO2max scores are for nonathletes. They tell you something about whether your VO2max is healthy, instead of race competitive. Scroll further down this article to get VO2max ranges for female athletes!

VO2max norms for woman

Age	Poor	Fair	Average	Good	Excellent
≤29	≤ 24.9	25-33.9	34-43.9	44-52.9	53
30-39	≤ 22.9	23-30.9	31-41.9	42-49.9	50
40-49	≤ 19.9	20-26.9	27-38.9	39-44.9	45
50-59	≤ 17.9	18-24.9	25-37.9	36-42.9	43
60-69	≤ 15.9	16-22.9	23-35.9	36-40.9	41

Female VO2max classification based on data from scientific literature for nonathletes.

VO2max scores for children

When looking at the average relative VO2max scores for children, boys remain level at about 52 ml/kg/min, while girls show a downward slope. This is due to changes in body composition.

Relative VO2max values for children between age 6 and 17. Boys (solid), girls (dashed). [source]

Relative VO2max scores in children do not accurately reflect aerobic performance, since both girls and boys increase their aerobic performance, even though VO2max remains the same (boys) or decreases (girls). That’s why it might be better to look at absolute values.

The average absolute VO2max value of boys and girls remain similar until about age 12. From then on, the difference starts to grow, probably due to changes in body composition and daily physical activity levels.

Absolute VO2max values for children between age 6 and 17. Boys (solid), girls (dashed). [source]

VO2max scores: women vs men

As you noticed, men have higher VO2max values compared to women, for the same age and fitness.

Literature shows that women typically have a VO2max score 15% to 30% below VO2max values of male counterparts. This is partly due to extra body fat and lower hemoglobin concentrations.

However, highly trained female endurance athletes have VO2max values that are much closer to those of highly trained male endurance athletes i.e. only about 10% lower.

Also: the VO2max of physically active females generally exceeds those of sedentary males.

Absolute and relative VO2max values

When comparing VO2max values, it’s important to note whether you express VO2max in absolute values or relative values.

The difference in VO2max between men and women is largest when looking at absolute VO2max (liters per minute, L/min). The difference becomes smaller when looking at relative VO2max (milliliters per kg body weight per minute, ml/kg/min), and even smaller when expressing aerobic capacity by fat-free body mass (milliliters per kg fat-free body weight per minute, ml/kg FFM/min).

VO2max values when aging: how to prevent a decline?

On average VO2max declines roughly 1% per year (0.4 – 0.5 ml/kg) or 10% per decade in adult men and women, starting at the age of 25. Note that this could also be partly caused by an increase in weight, since we’re talking about a VO2max relative to bodyweight.

There’s a difference between sedentary and active individuals: sedentary people lose their maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) twice as fast as active people.

When you maintain a physically active lifestyle and healthy body composition, your average decline can be minimized to about 0.25 ml/kg/min per year. However, you can’t fully prevent an age related decline in aerobic power with aging.

That said, the effect of your physical activity level influences VO2max greater than age per se. As a result, elderly can still increase their VO2max:

After 9 months of endurance training men aged 63 ±3 years were able to significantly increase their VO2max by 19% (from 2.35 L/min to 2.8 L/min). Women aged 64 ± 3 years were able to significantly increase their VO2max by 22% (from 1.36 L/min to 1.66 L/min).

What is a good VO2max for athletes - per sport?

On average, a good VO2max for athletes ranges between 40-60 ml/kg/min.

Athletes who want to know if they have a good VO2max can not rely on previous VO2max charts, because those were based on the general population.

When you’re a runner or cyclist, you shouldn’t compare your VO2max to the average VO2max. Instead you should be interested in the VO2max for athletes, preferably per sport.

When using the INSCYD performance software, you automatically see whether your VO2max is low, average, good or high, compared to other athletes in your sport. It takes several things into account:

Gender: male vs female
Sport: e.g. football players usually have a lower VO2max than XC skiers
Fitness level: e.g. recreational, amateur and professional

INSCYD also enables you to create your own VO2max comparison group. For instance when you coach a team. You can easily compare the VO2max values within your team.

For coaches and labs

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For ATHLETES

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Here’s a list of sports, with common VO2max values for athletes, based on the literature. The VO2max tables are separated between male athletes and female athletes and show age ranges.

Representative ranges of VO2max values for male athletes by age and sport.

VO2max for male athletes by age and sport

Sport	Age	Lower	Upper
Skiing (Nordic)	20-28	65	94
Track and field (running)	18-39	60	85
Bicycling	18-26	62	74
Speed skating	18-24	56	73
Rowing	20-35	60	72
Swimming	10-25	50	70
Skiing (alpine)	18-30	57	68
Canoeing	22-28	55	67
Wrestling	20-30	52	65
Soccer	22-28	54	64
Ski jumping	18-24	58	63
Ice hockey	10-30	50	63
Racquetball	20-35	55	62
Jockey	20-40	50	60
Football	20-36	42	60
Basketball	18-30	40	60
Track and field (running)	40-75	40	60
Gymnastics	18-22	52	58
Baseball and softball	18-32	48	56
Track and field (discus)	22-30	42	55
Orienteering	20-60	47	53
Weightlifting	20-30	38	52
Track and field (shot put)	22-30	40	46

Representative ranges of VO2max values for male athletes by age and sport.

VO2max for female athletes by age and sport

Sport	Age	Lower	Upper
Skiing (Nordic)	20-28	60	75
Track and field (running)	18-39	50	75
Rowing	20-35	58	65
Soccer	22-28	50	60
Racquetball	20-35	50	60
Orienteering	20-60	46	60
Basketball	18-30	43	60
Swimming	10-25	40	60
Track and field (running)	40-75	35	60
Baseball and softball	18-32	52	57
Bicycling	18-26	47	57
Volleyball	18-22	40	56
Skiing (alpine)	18-30	50	55
Speed skating	18-24	44	55
Canoeing	22-28	48	52
Gymnastics	18-22	36	50

Representative ranges of VO2max values for female athletes by age and sport

VO2max elite athletes

Elite athletes nearly double the VO2max of a sedentary person (!) Curious about the VO2max world records of professional athletes? Here’s a list of highest VO2max recorded in pro athletes:

VO2max of elite athletes - males

Name	Sport	VO2max (ml/kg/min)
Oskar Svendsen	Cycling	97.5
Bjørn Dæhlie	Cross-country skiing	96.0
Espen Harald Bjerke	Cross-country skiing	96.0
Greg LeMond	Cycling	92.5
Miguel Indurain	Cycling	88.0
Chris Froome	Cycling	84.6
Lance Armstrong	Cycling	84.0

VO2max of elite athletes - females

Name	Sport	VO2max (ml/kg/min)
Joan Benoit	Distance running	78.6
Bente Skari	Cross-country skiing	76.6
Flavia Oliveira	Cycling	76.0
Rosa Mota	Distance running	67.2