VO2 Max Calculator

VO2 Max Calculator estimates ml per kilogram per minute from the meters you cover in 12 minutes. A 2800 meter run prints 51.3. It is not a lab test.

Subtract 504.9, then divide by 44.73

The field opens on 2800. The button says Calculate. The estimate is the distance in meters, minus 504.9, divided by 44.73. 2800 minus 504.9 is 2295.1. Divided by 44.73 that is about 51.31, and the line rounds to one fraction digit: Estimated VO₂ max: 51.3 ml/kg/min. Under it the page says Cooper 12-minute test formula — informational only. A distance that is not positive stops with Distance must be positive. Last checked: October 2026, against vo2maxCooper. The formula is the Cooper 12-minute run estimate, not a treadmill protocol and not a watch's own score.

What you must have done first

The number is meters covered in twelve minutes, not a mile time and not a 5K time. 2800 meters is 2.8 kilometers. If you measured in miles, convert before you type. The page does not ask your age, your heart rate, or the incline. Two people who cover the same distance get the same figure. A shorter run that you scale up in your head will not match the formula, because the constants assume the twelve-minute effort. One mile is about 1609 meters. Typing 1609 is not the same test as covering 2800 meters, and the line will not be 51.3.

How far the number can be trusted

It is an estimate for that field test. It will not match a gas-exchange lab. It will not tell you a training zone. Pace tools convert speed. They do not apply 504.9 and 44.73. Do not treat 51.3 as a medical result or as a clearance to race. The screen already calls the formula informational. If the distance includes a walking break, the estimate still uses the total meters, because the form has no split for rest. The one-fraction-digit rounding is applied after the division, so 51.31 prints as 51.3 and 42.36 would print as 42.4.

A second distance to check the arithmetic

At 2400 meters, 2400 minus 504.9 is 1895.1, divided by 44.73, which is about 42.4 after one fraction digit. If 2800 does not show 51.3, the field is not 2800. At 1600 meters the same steps give 1600 minus 504.9, which is 1095.1, divided by 44.73, about 24.5 after one fraction digit. A distance of 504.9 would be 0. The field still has to be a positive number of meters from a twelve-minute effort, not a pace per mile. The meters stay in this browser.