VO2MAX TEST
The VO2max test: 3 ways to measure yours, and how to run one
How do I take a VO2max test?
There are 3 ways to take a VO2max test. A lab test measures the oxygen you use from your breath, a field test such as the 12-minute Cooper run or a treadmill test estimates it from the distance or speed you can hold, and a watch estimates it in the background. The Complete treadmill test starts after a 10-minute warm-up, raises the speed by 1 km/h every 2 minutes until you cannot hold it, and turns your top speed into a VO2max in ml/kg/min. Compare a result with your own earlier results from the same kind of test.
What a VO2max test measures
VO2max is the most oxygen your body can use in one minute when you work as hard as you can. It is written in ml/kg/min: millilitres of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute. A review of the research describes it as limited by how well your heart, lungs and circulation deliver oxygen to your working muscles, and as the upper limit for endurance performance [1]. It is not the only thing that decides how fast you race. How efficiently you run and how much of your VO2max you can hold also matter.
A MET, short for metabolic equivalent, is the oxygen you use sitting still: 3.5 ml/kg/min [2]. For example, a VO2max of 35 ml/kg/min is 10 METs. A VO2max test is any test that gives you this number, either by measuring it or by estimating it from something you can observe, such as the speed you can reach.
- 1. Bassett and Howley, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2000: limiting factors for maximum oxygen uptake and determinants of endurance performance checked 30 Oct 2026
- 2. Jetté, Sidney and Blümchen, Clinical Cardiology, 1990: metabolic equivalents (METS) in exercise testing, exercise prescription, and evaluation of functional capacity checked 30 Oct 2026
The 3 ways side by side
A lab test measures VO2max directly. You run on a treadmill or ride a bike while the load rises in steps, and you breathe through a mask that feeds a gas analyser. The analyser measures the oxygen you take in and the carbon dioxide you breathe out. In a 1983 study of 12 men, VO2max came out higher on tests that lasted 8 to 17 minutes, and the authors suggested steps that bring you to your limit in about 10 minutes. VO2max was also 6 percent higher on a treadmill than on a bike [3]. That is why a number only compares with numbers from the same kind of test. The Bruce protocol is a treadmill protocol used in labs: it starts at 2.7 km/h with a 10 percent incline and raises both speed and incline every 3 minutes until you stop [4][5].
A field test needs no lab. You make a hard effort and a formula turns the distance or speed you reach into an estimate. The Cooper test is one: run as far as you can in 12 minutes, on a track or a flat route outside. Our Cooper test guide has its formula and table. The Complete treadmill test is the other: the speed on a treadmill rises 1 km/h every 2 minutes until you cannot hold it.
A watch estimates VO2max in the background from the workouts you record, so there is no test to do on the day. Our Berlin guide compares a lab test, the Cooper test and a watch, and says where to test in Berlin.
| Way | How you get the number | What you need |
|---|---|---|
| Lab test | Measured from your breath with a gas analyser while the load rises in steps | A lab with the equipment |
| Field test | Estimated from the distance (Cooper) or the top speed (treadmill test) you can hold | A track, a flat route or a treadmill, and a clock |
| Watch estimate | Estimated in the background from your recorded workouts | A watch, and workouts |
- 3. Buchfuhrer et al., Journal of Applied Physiology, 1983: optimizing the exercise protocol for cardiopulmonary assessment checked 30 Oct 2026
- 4. Nutrients, 2026: a randomized crossover trial whose methods describe a Bruce protocol treadmill test on a metabolic cart (the stage structure is from its methods text) checked 30 Oct 2026
- 5. Physical Activity and Nutrition, 2026: an exercise study whose methods describe the Bruce protocol (the stage structure is from its methods text) checked 30 Oct 2026
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The Complete treadmill test, step by step
This is the field test you can run yourself on any treadmill. In the app, the test chooser describes it as the one where the speed goes up every two minutes until you can’t hold it, and the easiest test to repeat. Complete takes the speed, not your heart rate, so you do not need a chest strap to run it.
Set the treadmill to a 1 percent incline. In a study of 9 trained male runners, a 1 percent grade matched the energy cost of running outdoors at speeds between 10.5 and 18 km/h [6]. Then follow the steps below. If you test on your own treadmill without the app, enter the speed of the last stage you completed in the treadmill test mode of our VO2max calculator.
| Step | What you do |
|---|---|
| 1. Check how you feel | The app asks you to confirm “I’m healthy and feel good today” before you start. |
| 2. Warm up | 10 minutes. |
| 3. Start at the speed the app picks | The app picks a starting speed between 7 and 14 km/h. If you have a recent watch VO2max, it can set the start. It is never mixed into your result. |
| 4. Raise the speed | Every 2 minutes the speed goes up by exactly 1 km/h. |
| 5. Go to your limit | Keep going until you cannot hold the speed, then tap the limit button. The app’s hint: “Next stage feels impossible? Go into it anyway. Even 20 seconds raises your result.” |
| 6. Rate it | Rate your effort from 1 to 10 and say whether you had symptoms. The app’s note: rate 8 or higher only if you truly went to your limit. |
| 7. See if it counts | A result counts when you finished at least 3 full stages (360 seconds), did not pause, rated your effort 8 to 10, had no symptoms and did not use the safety stop. Otherwise it is saved but does not change your VO2max or your paces. |
The formula behind the number
Complete turns your peak speed into VO2max with this equation, where speed is in km/h and the answer is in ml/kg/min: VO2max = 14.49 + 2.143 x speed + 0.0324 x speed x speed. Your peak speed is the speed of the last stage you completed plus the part of the next stage you finished: the seconds you held it divided by 120. If you finish the 15 km/h stage and hold the next one for 30 seconds, your peak speed is 15.25 km/h. A peak speed of 16.0 km/h gives 14.49 + 34.288 + 8.2944 = 57.0724, which the app shows as 57. The calculator takes the speed of your last full stage.
Speed can stand in for oxygen use because the oxygen cost of running rises steadily with speed, as pooled data from 10 treadmill studies with 130 people show [9]. The same equation is printed in the methods of a 2018 study of 16 trained trail runners, which credits the 1980 Université de Montréal track test paper for it [8]. That test is a field test too: the load rises by 1 MET every 2 minutes [7].
Here is what the 1980 paper checked. In 25 young adults, the track test predicted a VO2max of 61.5 ml/kg/min on average and a lab treadmill test measured 61.4 [7]. The two correlated at r = 0.96 (r is a score where 1.0 means two measures move together perfectly). On average the two differed by 0.09 ml/kg/min, and the differences from person to person had a standard deviation of 2.90 ml/kg/min, a measure of how widely they scatter. People who took the test twice scored alike (r = 0.97, 60 people). A smaller check that measured oxygen during the track test itself, in 7 men, agreed less closely (r = 0.66) [7].
Those numbers belong to the 1980 test in young, fit adults. We have not tested the Complete treadmill test against a lab test, so we do not give an accuracy figure for it. Read your result as a trend you can repeat, not as a lab value.
- 7. Léger and Boucher, Canadian Journal of Applied Sport Sciences, 1980: an indirect continuous running multistage field test, the Université de Montréal track test checked 30 Oct 2026
- 8. Koral et al., Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2018: six sessions of sprint interval training improves running performance in trained athletes (the equation is in its methods) checked 30 Oct 2026
- 9. Léger and Mercier, Sports Medicine, 1984: gross energy cost of horizontal treadmill and track running checked 30 Oct 2026
What your number means for your goals
Complete starts from your long-term goals: build muscle, lose fat, improve cardio, get stronger, general health or become an athlete. VO2max speaks most to two of them. For the goal of improving your cardio it shows your aerobic engine, and for general health it has long-term research behind it, summed up below. It is a reading, not a target.
In a 2009 meta-analysis of 33 observational studies, people with a higher fitness level had a lower risk of death in the follow-up years. Each 1 MET higher fitness, which is 3.5 ml/kg/min and about 1 km/h of running speed, was linked to a relative risk of 0.87 for death from any cause (95 percent confidence interval, the range the true value most likely falls in: 0.84 to 0.90; 102,980 people) and 0.85 for heart disease and cardiovascular events (0.82 to 0.88; 84,323 people) [10]. A relative risk of 0.87 means a 13 percent lower risk of death per MET in those studies. Observational means the studies watched people and did not change their fitness, so the link is not proof that raising your own number lowers your own risk by that amount.
Our advice for reading your own number: repeat the same kind of test, on the same treadmill, when you feel rested, and compare it with your earlier results. When Complete holds more than one VO2max source from the last 12 months, a lab report ranks first, then a Complete field test, then other sources. Our guide to improving VO2max covers what training moves it.
Once you have a number, the button below opens our fitness age calculator. It turns a VO2max you type in, with your age, sex and an optional usual resting heart rate, into a fitness age. That is an estimate from a few typed values, not a medical test or a biological-age test, and nothing you type is saved.
- 10. Kodama et al., JAMA, 2009: cardiorespiratory fitness as a quantitative predictor of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular events in healthy men and women, a meta-analysis checked 30 Oct 2026
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Safety before you test
A VO2max test takes you to your limit. The app says it plainly: “This test takes you to your limit. Stop straight away for chest pain, dizziness, unusual breathlessness or anything that worries you.” The app has a separate safety stop button. A test ended that way is kept but does not change your VO2max.
If you have a heart condition, are coming back after a long break or are not sure, talk to a doctor before a test that asks for your maximum. Start only on a day you feel good.
Frequently asked questions
How do I take a VO2max test at home?
Use a field test, which estimates VO2max from the distance or speed you can hold. Run as far as you can in 12 minutes, which is the Cooper test, or run the Complete treadmill test: warm up for 10 minutes, then raise the speed by 1 km/h every 2 minutes until you cannot hold it.
How is VO2max measured?
In a lab, a gas analyser measures the oxygen you take in and the carbon dioxide you breathe out while the load rises in steps until you reach your limit. A field test estimates it from the distance or speed you reach. A watch estimates it in the background from your recorded workouts.
How long does a VO2max test take?
A 1983 study suggested sizing a lab test to bring you to your limit in about 10 minutes. In the Complete treadmill test you warm up for 10 minutes, then run 2-minute stages until you cannot hold the speed. A result counts once you finish at least 3 full stages, which is 6 minutes.
Does the Complete treadmill test use my heart rate or my watch?
Your VO2max comes from your speed, not your heart rate. A recent watch VO2max can set your starting speed, but it is never mixed into the test result.
Is a VO2max test safe?
A test that takes you to your limit is not right for everyone. Stop straight away for chest pain, dizziness, unusual breathlessness or anything that worries you. If you have a heart condition, are coming back after a long break or are not sure, talk to a doctor first.
What does my VO2max number mean?
It shows how much oxygen your body can use at your hardest effort, in ml/kg/min. In a 2009 meta-analysis of 33 observational studies, each 1 MET higher fitness, which is 3.5 ml/kg/min, was linked to a relative risk of 0.87 for death from any cause. Use it as a trend you repeat with the same kind of test, next to your goals.