Maximal Oxygen Consumption

(VO2max, Aerobic Capacity)*

*unless otherwise noted values are in ml/kg.min

20-29 Year Old Subjects in the General Population[1]

Percentile

Male

Female

90

51.4

44.2

80

48.2

41.0

70

46.8

38.1

60

44.2

36.7

50

42.5

35.2

40

41.0

33.8

30

39.5

32.3

20

37.1

30.6

10

34.5

28.4

Competitive Runners

 

Category

Male

Female

Billat 1994[2]

Sub-elite

69.6

-----

Kranenberg 1996[3]

Highly trained

67.7

-----

Svendenhag 1985[4]

International caliber

74

-----

Maughan 1994[5]

Elite

67 - 85

61 - 73

MacDougal 1991[6]

Mid-distance

70 - 86

-----

MacDougal 1991[6]

Distance

65 - 80

55 - 72

OU Cross Country Team (Fall 2003)

 

Male

Female

Average

71.1

56.9

Range

60.1 – 82.6

49.9 – 65.1

 

 

 

1.             American College of Sports Medicine., BA Franklin, MH Whaley, ET Howley: ACSM's guidelines for exercise testing and prescription, 6th edn. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2000.

2.             V Billat, JC Renoux, J Pinoteau, B Petit, JP Koralsztein: Reproducibility of running time to exhaustion at VO2max in subelite runners. Med Sci Sports Exerc 1994, 26:254-7.

3.             KJ Kranenburg, DJ Smith: Comparison of critical speed determined from track running and treadmill tests in elite runners. Med Sci Sports Exerc 1996, 28:614-8.

4.             J Svedenhag, B Sjodin: Physiological characteristics of elite male runners in and off-season. Can J Appl Sport Sci 1985, 10:127-33.

5.             R Maughan: Physiology and Nutrition for Middle Distance and Long Distance Running. In: Perspectives in Exercise Science and Sports Medicine: Physiology and Nutrition for Competitive Sport Edited by DR Lamb, HG Knuttgen, R Murray, vol. 7. pp. 329-365. Carmel, IN: Cooper Publishing Group; 1994: 329-365.

6.             JD MacDougall, HA Wenger, H Green, eds.: Physiological Testing of the High-Performance Athlete, 2nd Ed., 2nd edn. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics; 1991.