VO2 max is the maximum volume of oxygen you can absorb per minute per kilogram of body weight at your peak, and almost every Garmin watch can calculate this figure automatically.

VO2 max has become ubiquitous in fitness circles. But what does it measure and how important is it to know yours? By Talya Minsberg Talya Minsberg took a VO2 max test while reporting this story.

Keeping track of VO2 max on your Garmin is a great way to monitor your aerobic fitness and cardiorespiratory efficiency, and viewing this figure is possible both on the watch and in Garmin Connect.

Whoop, the screenless watchband-like wearable that beat out Oura in my non-watch fitness tracker showdown, has just added a VO2 max feature to its app. Now, just like Garmin, Apple Watch ...

But there’s one metric that stands apart: VO2 max, which provides insight into your aerobic fitness by capturing how well your heart, lungs, circulatory system and muscles work together.

From that test, the ring will give you a VO2 Max estimate. VO2 Max is a metric that measures your cardiorespiratory health. A higher VO2 Max generally means better performance in endurance sports.

Danish medical device spinout VentriJect aims to revolutionise fitness assessment by providing a fast and accessible method for measuring cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), particularly VO2 max.

With a fitness tracker, you’ll have access to a variety of these health metrics—but there’s one that is key to determining your cardiovascular fitness that you may be ignoring: your VO2 max.