VO2 Max Chart by Age and Sex: A Singapore Reference Guide

VO2 max benchmarks by age and sex, from the FRIEND registry (Kaminsky et al. 2015, Mayo Clinic Proceedings). The reference numbers below are the same percentile data that powers the Catalyst VO2 max calculator, written out as a reference table you can read against your own number. Mortality benefit is real and incremental between each band: every step up the percentile ladder is associated with measurably lower all-cause mortality risk over the decades that follow.

TL;DR

VO2 max chart: men

FRIEND registry treadmill cardiopulmonary exercise test values, in millilitres of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute (mL/kg/min). The five columns are 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentile thresholds for each decade band.

Reading the row: a 47-year-old man with a measured VO2 max of 38 mL/kg/min sits at roughly the 50th percentile for his decade (the column labelled 50th = 37.8). That is the Above Average band. To reach the 75th (Good band), the same man needs to climb to roughly 45 mL/kg/min, a meaningful but not exotic adaptation across 16 to 24 weeks of structured training.

VO2 max chart: women

Same dataset, same five percentile columns, in mL/kg/min.

Reading the row: a 52-year-old woman at 23 mL/kg/min sits at roughly the 50th percentile for her decade (50th = 23.4). Above Average band. To reach the 75th, she needs to climb to roughly 28 mL/kg/min. Realistic over a 16-week strength plus Zone 2 cardio protocol, particularly if starting from a sedentary baseline.

How to read these percentile bands

The FRIEND registry organises measured VO2 max into six descriptive bands, ordered by percentile:

The Mandsager 2018 Cleveland Clinic cohort study (122,007 patients across 13 years of treadmill testing) quantified this directly. The mortality gap between low cardiorespiratory fitness (Below Average) and elite (top 2.5 percent) was larger than the combined risk of smoking, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and end-stage renal disease. Translated: getting from Below Average to Excellent reduces mortality risk more than not smoking, not having diabetes, and not having coronary artery disease combined. Each step on the band ladder moves you measurably along the curve.

Singapore reality

The FRIEND registry sample is North American. There is no equivalent comprehensive cardiopulmonary exercise testing registry for Singapore, but the published literature on cardiorespiratory fitness norms across populations is remarkably consistent once adjusted for age, sex, and body composition. The FRIEND bands are a defensible benchmark for Singapore adults.

What I see in the studio across the 45 to 60 executive demographic that walks in: the modal Singaporean adult who has never trained structured cardio sits in the Average or Below Average band at the first assessment. The exception is the executive who runs recreationally (Saturday parkruns, club running, occasional half marathons). Those clients typically come in at Above Average. Truly Excellent (top decile) is rare and usually corresponds to a specific athletic history: serious distance running, competitive cycling, or military fitness culture.

The trajectory question matters more than the starting position. A 50-year-old who starts at the 25th percentile and trains structured strength plus Zone 2 cardio for 16 weeks typically lands in the 40th to 55th percentile at the Catalyst Checkpoint. A 50-year-old who does not train continues the age-related decline (roughly 1 percent per year if untrained, accelerating after 60). The bands are the map. The slope is what matters.

What to do with your number

If your reading lands below the 25th percentile for your age and sex, the priority is straightforward: start structured aerobic and strength training, and recheck in 16 weeks. The dose-response from Below Average to Above Average is the largest in the curve. Twelve to sixteen weeks of two strength sessions plus two Zone 2 cardio sessions per week reliably produces a measurable jump.

If your reading lands in the 25th to 75th percentile band, you are in the Average to Above Average tier and the priority shifts to maintaining and slowly upgrading. Most longevity-focused training stays here productively for years. The marginal mortality benefit of climbing from the 75th to the 90th is smaller per unit of training effort than the climb from 25th to 50th, but it is still real for adults pursuing the top end of healthspan.

If your reading lands above the 90th percentile, you are in the Excellent band and the training question shifts to maintenance and event-specific preparation. The mortality benefit at the top is documented but the law of diminishing returns is steep. Most clients in this band are already serious recreational or competitive endurance athletes.

Whichever band you are in, the retest cadence matters more than any single reading. Catalyst measures cardiorespiratory fitness on the 4-Pillar Healthspan Assessment and reassesses every 16 weeks at the Checkpoint. The slope of your line over four to six Checkpoints tells a different story than any single number. If you want a personalised reading against the same FRIEND data right now, the VO2 max calculator estimates your percentile from your resting heart rate using the Uth method when you have not had a clinical test. For the broader testing-methodology context including the sub-maximal alternative most untrained adults need, the VO2 max test Singapore: what most clinics get wrong guide covers the full picture.

Where to start

If you want a banded score across all four healthspan pillars before booking anything, the free Healthspan Audit is a 12-question self-assessment that lands a banded result across body composition, cardiorespiratory fitness, stability, and strength in your inbox in three minutes. The audit's cardiorespiratory band uses the same FRIEND percentile structure shown in this guide. If you want the precise reading on a clinical instrument, the in-studio 4-Pillar Healthspan Assessment measures cardiorespiratory fitness via the YMCA 3-minute step test, which produces an estimated VO2 max in the same mL/kg/min units used by the FRIEND data above.

Frequently asked questions

Q. Are these percentile bands valid for Singapore adults?

The FRIEND registry sample is North American (predominantly Caucasian). There is no equivalent comprehensive Singapore-specific cardiopulmonary exercise testing registry. The published literature on cardiorespiratory fitness norms across populations is consistent once adjusted for age, sex, and body composition, so the FRIEND bands are a defensible benchmark for Singapore adults. The Asian Working Group has published parallel work on sarcopenia thresholds calibrated to Asian populations; an Asian-specific cardiorespiratory fitness registry of similar quality does not yet exist, but the relative percentile structure (band ordering, dose-response curve) holds across ethnic groups.

Q. How does VO2 max from my Apple Watch compare to a treadmill reading?

Your Apple Watch estimate runs roughly 10 to 15 percent off against direct measurement, and the error is structural (the algorithm cannot see oxygen consumption directly). For tracking your own trend over months the watch reading is useful. For interpreting where you sit on the chart above, it is not adequate. The Catalyst Apple Watch VO2 max vs treadmill breakdown covers the algorithm and the structural error in depth.

Q. How quickly can I move between bands?

In previously untrained adults, 12 to 16 weeks of structured progressive cardiovascular and strength training reliably moves the measured VO2 max by 10 to 20 percent. That is enough to climb one full band for most readers. The largest jumps come from the lowest starting points (Below Average to Above Average); the rate of improvement plateaus as you climb into Good and Excellent territory. Genuinely climbing from Above Average to Excellent typically takes 12 to 18 months of consistent training and is the realistic ceiling for most adults over 45 who were not previously athletes.

Citations

Kaminsky, L. A., Arena, R., & Myers, J. (2015). Reference Standards for Cardiorespiratory Fitness Measured With Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing: Data From the Fitness Registry and the Importance of Exercise National Database. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 90(11), 1515 to 1523. mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196(15)00532-X/fulltext

Mandsager, K., Harb, S., Cremer, P., Phelan, D., Nissen, S. E., & Jaber, W. (2018). Association of Cardiorespiratory Fitness With Long-term Mortality Among Adults Undergoing Exercise Treadmill Testing. JAMA Network Open, 1(6), e183605. jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2707428

Kodama, S., Saito, K., Tanaka, S., Maki, M., Yachi, Y., Asumi, M., et al. (2009). Cardiorespiratory Fitness as a Quantitative Predictor of All-Cause Mortality and Cardiovascular Events in Healthy Men and Women: A Meta-analysis. JAMA, 301(19), 2024 to 2035. jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/183993