How do I test my VO2 max?
Healthy and active? Run as far as you can in 12 minutes. New to exercise? Walk a mile instead. Both give an estimate; only a lab measures it. A common mistake happens in lap one.
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How do you test your VO2 max?
VO2 max is the most oxygen your body can use in hard exercise. It’s given in ml/kg/min: millilitres of oxygen, per kilo you weigh, per minute.
A lab measures it. You run or cycle until you can’t go on, wearing a mask that reads the air you breathe.
At home you estimate it. Kenneth Cooper had 115 US Air Force officers and airmen run for 12 minutes, then tested them in his lab. Distance and lab result lined up closely.
| Test | What you do | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Lab test | Run or cycle to your limit in a mask, usually 6 to 15 minutes. | A measured VO2 max and your top heart rate. |
| Cooper test | Run as far as you can in 12 minutes. | An estimate from one sum. |
| Rockport walk | Walk 1 mile as fast as you can. | An estimate from time, heart rate, age, weight and sex. |
| YMCA step test | Step on a 30 cm box for 3 minutes. | An estimate from your heart rate after. |
Sources: Cardiff Met; Cooper Institute; Kline 1987; Nguyen Thi Van 2020
Think of a car’s top speed. The lab measures it on a test track. The Cooper test works it out from how far you got in 12 minutes.
So is a home number good enough? For tracking your own fitness, it can be useful. Just don’t expect it to match a lab result exactly.
Pick the test that suits you below.
Already have a watch reading? See how accurate smartwatch VO2 max is before you trust it.
How to do the Cooper 12-minute run test
You need a stopwatch, a measured route and 12 minutes of hard running.
The Cooper Institute says the run is for people who are healthy and exercise regularly.
Very overweight or not very active? Often get joint pain when running or the next day? Then the Rockport 1-mile walk below is safer.
A local athletics track is ideal, because each lap is 400 m.
Five steps for a fair Cooper test
- Drink enough beforehand and warm up for at least 5 minutes.
- Use a flat, measured surface, such as a 400 m track, at a time of day when the weather is mild.
- Run in lane 1, the inside lane, the whole time.
- Hold a steady pace. Starting much too fast is a common mistake.
- Count your laps to the nearest quarter, then walk slowly for 5 to 10 minutes to cool down.
Source: Cooper Institute
That lap-one mistake is starting too fast. The Cooper Institute says it leads to early exhaustion, and you slow down a lot for the rest.
Run the first lap at a pace you think you can hold.
Not sure how hard everyday runs should feel? Our guide to heart rate zones and the talk test covers that.
How to calculate VO2 max from the Cooper test
Take your distance in metres. Subtract 504.9, then divide by 44.73. That is the Cooper equation, and the answer is your estimate in ml/kg/min.
Say you ran 6 laps, or 2,400 m. Take away 504.9 to get 1,895.1. Divide by 44.73 and you get about 42.4.
| Distance in 12 minutes | Laps of a 400 m track | Estimated VO2 max (ml/kg/min) |
|---|---|---|
| 1,600 m | 4 | About 24.5 |
| 2,000 m | 5 | About 33.4 |
| 2,400 m | 6 | About 42.4 |
| 2,800 m | 7 | About 51.3 |
Source: Cooper equation (PMC5466411)
It was checked against lab tests in 115 Air Force staff, so treat it as a guide, not a lab result. Each extra 100 m adds about 2.2 to your estimate.
To see progress, repeat it on the same track in similar weather. Then you’re comparing you with you.
Can’t run? Try the Rockport walk or YMCA step test
The Rockport walk test asks you to walk 1 mile on a track as fast as you can. Four laps of a 400 m track is just under a mile (0.994 miles).
Note your time and your heart rate over the last quarter mile. In 343 healthy adults aged 30 to 69, an equation using these plus age, weight and sex gave a valid estimate.
The YMCA 3-minute step test
- 1
Set a beat
Use a metronome at 96 beats a minute: up, up, down, down.
- 2
Step for 3 minutes
On a 30 cm box, at 24 steps a minute.
- 3
Sit and count
Wait 5 seconds, then count your heart rate for 1 minute.
Source: Nguyen Thi Van 2020
The step test was checked in just 30 healthy Korean and Vietnamese adults aged 19 to 35. In the Korean group it read 3.36 ml/kg/min too high on average, so treat it as rough.
Walking is a fine place to build fitness too. See walking pace versus step count.
What happens in a lab VO2 max test, and what does it cost?
Some university sports labs test the public. Cardiff Met charges £100. Marjon University in Plymouth charges £95, or £80 if a student runs it with staff watching.
What happens in a hospital exercise test
- 1
Before
No heavy meal for 2 hours, no alcohol for 4, no hard exercise for 30 minutes and no smoking for at least 1 hour.
- 2
Set up
Heart stickers, a breathing test, a face mask and a finger clip.
- 3
Exercise
Cycle as long as you can as it gets harder, for no more than 15 minutes.
- 4
Recover
You rest while staff watch. The whole visit takes about 90 minutes.
Source: Cambridge University Hospitals
On the NHS this is a cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET): an exercise test that checks your heart and lungs. It can help find causes of shortness of breath, check heart and lung conditions, or prepare for surgery.
You don’t book it yourself. At one NHS trust, a consultant asks for it and gets the results.
Cambridge says the risk is the same as mild to moderate exercise. About 1 in 1,000 patients get symptoms, and staff stop the test if you do.
Cambridge asks you to take all your medicines, including inhalers, as normal on the day. Follow your own hospital’s letter. Never stop or change a prescribed medicine without your prescriber.
For a fitness number, contact a university sports lab near you. For symptoms, start with your GP.
When to speak to a GP
A sports lab gives you a fitness number. Symptoms need a doctor. Speak to a GP if:
- You’re worried about your health before starting an exercise plan like Couch to 5K.
- You have chest pain that comes and goes, or that goes away quickly but you’re still worried.
- You get short of breath when you exercise and want to know why. A CPET is one test that can help find the cause.
- Call 999 if you get sudden chest pain or discomfort that does not go away (it can feel like squeezing, pressure, burning or indigestion), or pain that spreads to your arm, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or comes with feeling sweaty, sick, light-headed or short of breath.
Just had a hospital exercise test? Call 999 or go to A&E if you feel faint, have palpitations or chest pain or tightness, or feel unusually short of breath.
Fluttering heartbeat on runs? See heart palpitations and blood tests.