VO₂ Max: The Most Powerful Number You’re Not Tracking (Yet)

Why it matters, how to measure it accurately, and how we use it to personalize your health & fitness for the long haul

Most people track weight, maybe steps, and occasionally cholesterol. But there’s one metric that quietly predicts how well you’re going to age more than almost anything else — and most people have never measured it once.

That number is VO₂ max.

At Hi, Finch Health, we think of VO₂ max as a window into your body’s engine — your ability to deliver oxygen to your muscles and use it efficiently. And here’s why that matters: it’s not just about athletic performance. It’s about future independence, energy, and reducing your risk of chronic disease over the next decades.

If you’re someone who wants to stay sharp, strong, and capable in your 60s–80s (and not just “survive”), VO₂ max is worth knowing.

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What is VO₂ max, in plain English?

VO₂ max is short for “maximal oxygen consumption.”

It measures how much oxygen your body can use during intense exercise — typically reported as mL of oxygen per kg per minute.

Think of it like this:

✅ Higher VO₂ max = better cardiovascular fitness + better oxygen delivery + better endurance
❌ Lower VO₂ max = decreased resilience, quicker fatigue, higher disease risk over time

It reflects the combined performance of:

• your heart (pumping ability)

• your lungs (oxygen exchange)

• your blood (transport)

• your mitochondria (use of oxygen in muscle)

So it’s not just a “fitness score.” It’s a systems score.

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Why VO₂ max matters for longevity (and why we care so much)

Researchers now consistently show that cardiorespiratory fitness is one of the strongest predictors of mortality — meaning it is highly linked to how long we live and how healthy we are while living. In large studies, higher fitness levels correlate strongly with lower risk of:

• cardiovascular disease

• cancer mortality

• type 2 diabetes

• dementia and cognitive decline

• frailty and falls later in life

In other words, your VO₂ max is not just about running faster — it’s about aging slower.

Many experts now consider cardiorespiratory fitness a true “vital sign,” because it often predicts risk more powerfully than traditional markers like blood pressure or cholesterol alone.

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How VO₂ max helps us predict your future fitness

This is one of our favorite parts.

VO₂ max trends give us a way to estimate how your future self will function. Not because we’re trying to “optimize a number,” but because this helps us answer real questions like:

• “Will I still be able to travel easily at 70?”

• “Will hiking feel impossible in 10 years?”

• “How do I stay energetic and independent later?”

• “What do I need to improve now so I don’t decline later?”

VO₂ max naturally declines with age — but how steep that decline is depends heavily on training and lifestyle.

If we know your baseline now, we can:

1. set realistic improvement goals

2. estimate what your VO₂ max could look like in 10–20 years

3. build a training plan that matches your long-term lifestyle goals (travel, skiing, grandkids, golf, long walks without getting winded, etc.)

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Why “VO₂ max from your watch” isn’t enough

Many wearables estimate VO₂ max based on heart rate + pace + GPS — and they’re useful for trends, but they can be off by 10–20% in individuals.

A true VO₂ max test includes:
✅ actual oxygen and CO₂ measurement via mask
✅ graded exercise protocol (bike or treadmill)
✅ real-time breath-by-breath gas exchange data
✅ objective thresholds used to build training zones

If you’re going to use this number to guide your health strategy, you deserve accuracy.

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The underrated benefit: getting real heart rate zones

Here’s where VO₂ max testing becomes even more valuable than the number itself.

Most people train using generic formulas like:

220 – age = max HR

But that’s often wildly inaccurate.

Instead, we use VO₂ testing to identify:

• Ventilatory Threshold 1 (VT1) → your “easy aerobic” ceiling

• Ventilatory Threshold 2 (VT2) → your high-intensity threshold

These thresholds allow us to build your personal training zones based on your physiology, not population averages.

Why does that matter?

Because if you’ve ever felt like:

• “I do cardio but I’m not improving”

• “I train hard but I still get winded easily”

• “I’m always exhausted from workouts”

• “I don’t know how hard I should be working”

…it’s often because you’re training in the wrong zone.

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What does this mean for your workouts?

Most people unintentionally spend too much time in the “moderate hard” zone — not easy enough to build endurance, and not hard enough to increase VO₂ max efficiently.

Once we find your true zones, your training becomes clearer:

Zone 2 (Aerobic base)

• improves mitochondrial function

• improves fat oxidation and metabolic flexibility

• builds endurance and energy

• supports cardiovascular health and blood pressure

• should feel conversational but steady

This is the training that makes you last longer — and it’s foundational for longevity.

Higher-intensity intervals (VO₂ max work)

• improves maximal cardiac output

• improves speed, resilience, and recovery

• boosts VO₂ max more directly

• helps you maintain performance as you age

We can strategically program intervals so they build fitness without burning you out.

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How often should you test VO₂ max?

For most patients, once per year is ideal.

That gives enough time to:

• see meaningful changes

• adjust training based on progress

• catch early declines before they become obvious in day-to-day life

And that’s exactly why:

✅ Annual VO₂ max testing is included in your Hi, Finch Health membership.
We’ve partnered with an exercise physiologist to administer the test and interpret results, so your data becomes a personalized plan — not just a number on a printout.

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Who benefits most from VO₂ max testing?

Honestly? Almost everyone.

But especially if you:

• want to proactively prevent disease

• want structured training without guesswork

• have a family history of cardiovascular disease

• have elevated blood pressure, insulin resistance, or metabolic risk

• feel “out of shape” despite being active

• want to train smarter, not harder

• care about aging well (strength + stamina + independence)

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How Hi, Finch Health uses VO₂ max differently

A standard clinic might say: “Your VO₂ max is X. Great.”

We don’t do that.

We use it to create an integrated plan that ties into:

• lab trends and metabolic health

• body composition goals

• blood pressure and cardiovascular risk

• sleep and recovery

• training prescription by zone

• long-term vitality and independence goals

Because ultimately, our goal isn’t fitness for fitness’s sake — it’s fitness as a tool for health, confidence, and prevention.

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If you want to feel better now and stay capable later…

VO₂ max is one of the best places to start.

If you’re curious about what your current fitness level says about your future health — or you want help building a plan that supports longevity — we’d love to guide you.

📩 If you’d like to discuss membership, annual testing, or what your personal results could mean, BOOK YOUR INTRODUCTORY CONSULTATION WITH DR. KINDRED HERE

British Journal of Sports Medicine (2024) — Overview of meta-analyses showing cardiorespiratory fitness as a strong predictor of morbidity and mortality across >20.9 million observations.
“Cardiorespiratory fitness is a strong and consistent predictor of morbidity and mortality…”
British Journal of Sports Medicine

JAMA Network Open (2018) — Cleveland Clinic cohort (122,007 patients) found cardiorespiratory fitness strongly inversely associated with mortality, with no upper limit of benefit observed.