If you think of ways to measure your overall health, certain benchmarks likely come to mind. The bloodwork you get done at your annual physical, maybe. Your body mass index. Perhaps how much you can bench press. But there’s another number that’s increasingly in the mix: VO2 max.
Simply put,VO2 max is the maximum rate of oxygen your body can use during exercise. Think of this number as a simple way to see how well your lungs work, how efficiently your heart pumps blood to your muscles, and how well those muscles use oxygen. The name comes from three abbreviations: “V̇” for volume, “O” for oxygen, and “max” for maximum.
It’s been a favorite metric of endurance athletes for decades, but it’s increasingly recommended by longevity experts like Peter Attia as a measure of overall health. But do you really need another thing to track your body? The experts say yes.
How It’s Measured
VO2 max is expressed as milliliters of oxygen used in a minute per kilogram of body weight. A higher VO2 max number usually means you’re in good shape. Like most fitness measurements, a good number changes with age—VO2 max generally decreases about 2% each year after age 30.
While many wearable fitness trackers will estimate your VO2 max, the
