Coach test | free
Maximal aerobic speed calculator
Run as far as you can in 6 minutes and get your maximal aerobic speed (MAS, also called vVO2max), the VO2 max that goes with it, and the paces to train at.
Maximal aerobic speed : 13.5 km/h
This is an example. Enter your own numbers to see your result.
- VO2 max (Léger and Mercier)
- 44.9 ml/kg/min
- VO2 max (3.5 times MAS)
- 47.3 ml/kg/min
- Easy endurance (60 to 70 %)
- 8.1 to 9.5 km/h
- Long intervals (85 to 90 %)
- 11.5 to 12.2 km/h
Six minutes is about as long as most people can hold their maximal aerobic speed. The test only works with an all out, even effort.
Are you a coach?
A test gives a number. Moveat keeps it next to the weight, the measurements and the photos your clients send every week, so you see where each one is going. Free for 2 clients.
How the calculation works
Why 6 minutes
Maximal aerobic speed is the slowest speed at which the body uses all the oxygen it can. Most people hold it for about 6 minutes, so the average speed of a 6 minute all out run is a good estimate of it.
From distance to speed
The distance in metres divided by 100 gives km/h. 1,500 metres in 6 minutes is 15 km/h.
From speed to VO2 max
Léger and Mercier published the energy cost of running in 1984, from 130 runners: VO2 equals 2.209 plus 3.163 times the speed. The rounded version, 3.5 times the speed, is shown next to it.
The paces
Percentages of maximal aerobic speed, the usual landmarks in running: 60 to 70 % for easy endurance, 85 to 90 % for long intervals.
Common questions
What is maximal aerobic speed?
The running speed at which a person reaches their VO2 max. It is the most useful number to set running paces, because it is already a speed.
6 minute test or Cooper test?
The 6 minute test measures maximal aerobic speed directly. The 12 minute Cooper test is run below it, so it gives an average speed and a VO2 max, not a maximal aerobic speed.
Is my result good?
Look at the VO2 max line and compare it with the VO2 max chart by age, on the VO2 max calculator page. A speed alone means little without age and sex.