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VO₂MaxUnderstand, measure and improve your cardiorespiratory fitness
People jogging in a park. AI-generated imagery.

VO₂Max (maximal oxygen uptake)

Understand your VO₂Max.
Find exercise that suits you.

Use your smartwatch value as a guide to your current level and choose manageable exercise. Find information and tools to help you keep going, one step at a time.

See how to start exercisingCheck your current level

Not sure where to find your value? Find VO₂Max on your smartwatch or phone

Our mission

Our ambition: a major boost to VO₂Max across Japan.

Understand, measure, choose exercise and keep going. We aim for a society where everyone can work on their cardiorespiratory fitness at their own pace.

Read about our mission

Feature · Start with your smartwatch

Use smartwatch VO₂Max to support an exercise habit

Find your value on Apple Watch, Garmin or another device, and note how you feel alongside it. This guide helps you choose exercise, keep going and reflect on your routine.

From finding your value to keeping going

Build endurance at your usual gym

Make it part of your fitness club visits or personal training. Explore ways to build on your current routine and examples of what to discuss with your trainer.

Find one thing to do at your next gym visit →

Three functions behind VO₂Max

  1. Lungs

    Take in oxygen

  2. Heart & blood vessels

    Carry it in the blood

  3. Muscles

    Use it in the muscles

A simplified view of how oxygen enters the body and is used by the muscles.

Why VO₂Max matters

Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), in its 2023 Physical Activity and Exercise Guide for Health Promotion, describes cardiorespiratory fitness as a strong predictor of mortality and disease incidence. The guide summarizes research associating each 1-MET higher fitness level (3.5 mL/kg/min) with approximately 10–20% lower relative risks of all-cause or cardiovascular mortality.

This is an association observed in studies following many people. It does not predict or guarantee any individual's future.

The same guide states that even a small improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness can be expected to provide substantial health benefits, across people with low through high fitness.

Turn understanding into one manageable step

  1. STEP 1

    Understand the reference values

    Learn what VO₂Max means, with Japanese age-group averages and MHLW reference values.

    Understand VO₂Max

  2. STEP 2

    Check your own value

    Explore your current level using a smartwatch value or an estimate from resting heart rate.

    See measurement methods

  3. STEP 3

    Start with exercise you can manage

    Choose a suitable approach from continuous exercise, interval walking and HIIT.

    Compare the methods

  4. STEP 4

    Find support to keep going

    Set a walking goal and check your daily progress.

    Explore an app for your routine

Sources

  1. Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: Physical Activity and Exercise Guide for Health Promotion 2023, INFORMATION 6, Cardiorespiratory fitness (peak oxygen uptake). (in Japanese; title translated) https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/001195874.pdf
  2. Han M, Qie R, Shi X, et al. Cardiorespiratory fitness and mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease and cancer: dose-response meta-analysis of cohort studies. Br J Sports Med. 2022;56(13):733-739. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2021-104876
  3. Qiu S, Cai X, Sun Z, et al. Is estimated cardiorespiratory fitness an effective predictor for cardiovascular and all-cause mortality? A meta-analysis. Atherosclerosis. 2021;330:22-28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2021.06.904

No specialist review; sources providedContent last checked: Editorial policy