This is the complete male VO2 max percentile table from The Cooper Institute, ages 20–79. All values are in ml/kg/min, measured via treadmill maximal test with open-circuit spirometry. Compare your score to the column closest to your number.
What is a good VO2 max for a man?
The Cooper Institute classifies men's VO2 max into six bands — Poor, Below Average, Average, Good, Excellent, and Superior — with the cutoff for each band varying by decade. The interpretation in plain English:
- Poor (under the 20th percentile): below the threshold associated with normal cardiovascular reserve. Most adults in this band have noticeable shortness of breath on stairs.
- Average (40th–60th percentile): typical for a moderately active adult. Capable of light recreational exercise but limited at higher intensities.
- Good (60th–80th percentile): consistent with regular aerobic training. Recreational runners and cyclists with a few years of training usually land here.
- Excellent / Superior (80th percentile and above): the territory of competitive amateur athletes and trained masters. Sustained endurance work over years — not just gym time — is what gets you here.
For a 35-year-old man, the median (50th percentile) is about 42 ml/kg/min; the boundary into "Excellent" is about 49. For a 55-year-old, the median drops to about 34 and "Excellent" starts at about 40. The full table below has the exact cutoffs for every decade.
| Age | 5th | 10th | 25th | 50th | 75th | 90th | 95th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20–29 | 29.0 | 32.1 | 40.1 | 48.0 | 55.2 | 61.8 | 66.3 |
| 30–39 | 27.2 | 30.2 | 35.9 | 42.4 | 49.2 | 56.5 | 59.8 |
| 40–49 | 24.2 | 26.8 | 31.9 | 37.8 | 45.0 | 52.1 | 55.6 |
| 50–59 | 20.9 | 22.8 | 27.1 | 32.6 | 39.7 | 45.6 | 50.7 |
| 60–69 | 17.4 | 19.8 | 23.7 | 28.2 | 34.5 | 40.3 | 43.0 |
| 70–79 | 16.3 | 17.1 | 20.4 | 24.4 | 30.4 | 36.6 | 39.7 |
Values are VO2 max in ml/kg/min. Source: The Cooper Institute (see /methodology/).
Interpretation by decade
Men in their 20s (20–29)
Average (50th) is 48.0 ml/kg/min. Good (75th) is 55.2. Excellent (90th) is 61.8. Full page for men in their 20s →
Men in their 30s (30–39)
Average (50th) is 42.4 ml/kg/min. Good (75th) is 49.2. Excellent (90th) is 56.5. Full page for men in their 30s →
Men in their 40s (40–49)
Average (50th) is 37.8 ml/kg/min. Good (75th) is 45.0. Excellent (90th) is 52.1. Full page for men in their 40s →
Men in their 50s (50–59)
Average (50th) is 32.6 ml/kg/min. Good (75th) is 39.7. Excellent (90th) is 45.6. Full page for men in their 50s →
Men in their 60s (60–69)
Average (50th) is 28.2 ml/kg/min. Good (75th) is 34.5. Excellent (90th) is 40.3. Full page for men in their 60s →
Men in their 70s (70–79)
Average (50th) is 24.4 ml/kg/min. Good (75th) is 30.4. Excellent (90th) is 36.6. Full page for men in their 70s →
How VO2 max changes with age
For untrained men, VO2 max declines roughly 10% per decade after about age 30, driven mostly by reductions in maximum heart rate and cardiac output. By the mid-60s, an untrained man's VO2 max is typically 30–40% below his peak. Trained men decline at roughly half that rate — about 5% per decade — because consistent aerobic work preserves stroke volume and capillary density.
The practical takeaway: a substantial chunk of what gets blamed on aging is actually detraining. Endurance-trained men in their 60s routinely score above the median for men in their 30s. The training guide covers what works to slow the decline.
How to improve your score
Three levers are well-supported by the research. None are complicated:
- Volume of easy aerobic work (zone 2). 2–3 sessions per week of 45–60 minutes at a pace where you can hold a conversation. Builds the foundation everything else sits on. See zone 2 training.
- One weekly high-intensity interval session. The Norwegian 4×4 protocol — 4 minutes at 90–95% max HR, 3 minutes easy, repeated 4 times — has the best published evidence for raising VO2 max efficiently. See the 4×4 details.
- Consistency over months. Measurable improvements show up in 4–6 weeks; peak response lands at 8–12 weeks. Untrained men typically gain 15–20% in that window.
How accurate is this table?
The Cooper Institute norms are derived from the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study, where participants completed maximal treadmill tests with measured oxygen uptake (the gold-standard methodology). The same dataset underlies the percentile tables in ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, 11th edition.
Field-test estimates from the calculator on this site are estimates — typical correlation with lab-measured VO2 max is around r = 0.85–0.90 for trained populations and somewhat lower for general adults. If your field-test number lands within 3–5 ml/kg/min of a lab measurement, that's the expected agreement, not a flaw.
Why male VO2 max is higher than female
Across every age bracket, men test 15–20% higher than women on average. The gap reflects three physiological differences: higher hemoglobin concentration (13–18% more oxygen-carrying capacity per deciliter of blood), larger heart size relative to body weight, and higher lean-mass percentage. These are not trainable differences — they are structural.
The implication for interpretation: always compare your VO2 max to same-sex norms. The tables above are for men only; the companion women's page has the parallel data.