{"id":508583,"date":"2026-06-19T21:43:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T21:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/508583\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T21:43:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T21:43:08","slug":"how-does-your-vo2-max-score-compare-to-the-global-average-garmin-has-revealed-new-data-on-our-fitness-levels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/508583\/","title":{"rendered":"How does your VO2 max score compare to the global average? Garmin has revealed new data on our fitness levels"},"content":{"rendered":"

For runners who love nothing more than collecting and comparing performance-related stats \u2013 which, let\u2019s be honest, is almost all of us \u2013 the recent reveal by Garmin<\/a> of a motherload of data<\/a> gleaned and compiled from the brand\u2019s popular range of smart watches<\/a> is an absolute treasure trove.<\/p>\n

Using the data dump, runners can compare their weekly run distance to the global average<\/a>, discover which country clocks the fastest average pace (you might be surprised) and so on. And one set of figures that many runners are sure to pore over is the section revealing the average VO2 max<\/a> of Garmin users. Here\u2019s what you need to know…<\/p>\n

What is VO2 max and why should you care?<\/p>\n

A key indicator of aerobic fitness, a VO2 max score tells you how much oxygen your body can effectively use during period of exercise such as running. Carried around the body by red blood cells and transformed by mitochondria into fuel for hard-working muscles, oxygen is essential for energy production.<\/p>\n

The better you are at breathing in oxygen from the air and getting it to your muscles \u2013 where it breaks down carbohydrates<\/a>, proteins and fats to produce energy \u2013 the greater your ability to produce energy aerobically. It essentially means that you can run for longer and at a more efficient and sustainable rate before shifting into anaerobic intensities<\/a>. So, a high VO2 max score is indicative of good cardiovascular endurance, which every runner wants. <\/p>\n

How is VO2 max measured?<\/p>\n

Your VO2 max represents the maximum amount of oxygen that you can consume while running and is measured in millilitres per kilogram of body weight in one minute (mL\/kg\/min). <\/p>\n

You can go to a sports lab and pay for a VO2 max test<\/a>, which involves running on a treadmill for 10 to 20 minutes while wearing a mask that analyses your breathing. This has traditionally been considered the gold standard in terms of measuring the metric. <\/p>\n

However, most modern Garmin smartwatches have the embedded ability to estimate your VO2 max by analysing and interpreting performance data while you\u2019re out running, which this means the Garmin Human Performance Lab has been able to harvest an incredible amount of information from users all around the globe.<\/p>\n

What is the average VO2 max score?<\/p>\n

The average VO2 max score for all Garmin runners in 2025 was \u2013 drumroll \u2013 50. However, there were big variations in VO2 max figures between men and women, as well as across runners of different age groups, so it\u2019s more useful and instructive to compare scores to people in the same category. <\/p>\n

Luckily, Garmin has all these stats to hand. In 2025, the average best VO2 max score of female runners in their 40s, for example, was 46. For men of the same age, it was 51. In runners in the next band up, aged 50 to 59, those figures dropped to 45.5 and 49 respectively.<\/p>\n

How do you improve your VO2 max?<\/p>\n

A high VO2 max score isn\u2019t everything, but if yours is lower than the global average for people of your gender and age, and that bothers you, then there are ways of improving it. Introducing high-intensity efforts into your training plan and mixing those efforts up \u2013 by interspersing tempo runs<\/a> and threshold runs<\/a> with interval sessions<\/a>, for example \u2013 can improve your aerobic fitness and, as a result, really push that figure higher.<\/p>\n

Also, do bear in mind that, as impressive and fascinating as all these stats are, a VO2 max score obtained from a running watch \u2013 even a very good one \u2013 won\u2019t be as accurate as a lab test result, so it\u2019s still likely to be a slight underestimation of your true score. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For runners who love nothing more than collecting and comparing performance-related stats \u2013 which, let\u2019s be honest, is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508584,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[1134,217183,1107,499,1110,103,61,60,184510,1135,217182],"class_list":["post-508583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-content-type-default","tag-contentid-691c5f8a-04ae-40d0-8054-dc40e3ac9e23","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-fitness","tag-hasproduct-true","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-gb","tag-shorttitle-how-does-your-vo2-max-score-compare-to-the-global-average"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}