VO2 Max Calculator
Skip the lab booking - work out your VO2max straight from a 2k erg time or any longer piece. A practical way to set individual training zones and follow aerobic gains across a New Zealand rowing season.
How do you estimate VO2max from rowing?
There are two routes. With a 2k time, the Klusiewicz formula applies (-0.0224 x seconds + 91.3 for men, -0.0245 x seconds + 95.5 for women). With any other piece, you first get average watts from the Concept2 power equation, divide that by body weight in kg, and feed the result into the ACSM rowing formula (VO2 = 12.5 x W/kg + 3.5). Either way the answer comes out in millilitres of oxygen used per kilogram of body weight each minute. A field estimate usually sits within 5 ml/kg/min of what a lab test would return.
Your test
Klusiewicz validated the formula separately for male and female rowers. Picking "Other" falls back to the male formula.
Age plays no part in the formula - it is here purely to help you read the benchmark bands.
Test summary
Estimated VO2max
ml/kg/min
Method
Average power
Treat this as an estimate drawn from one field test. A proper lab assessment - mask, gas analyser, ramp protocol - is still the gold standard, and these field figures usually fall within 3-5 ml/kg/min of it.
Where you sit against rowing benchmarks
Bands adapted from ACSM Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription (11th ed.) and Hagerman 1984 data on national team oarsmen and oarswomen. Elite rowers regularly test above 70 ml/kg/min for men and 60 ml/kg/min for women.
Worked example
Take a 75 kg male club rower who erg-tests a 2k in 6:50.0, which is 410 seconds.
- 1.Convert time to seconds: 6 minutes 50 seconds = 410 seconds.
- 2.Apply Klusiewicz male formula: VO2max = (-0.0224 x 410) + 91.3.
- 3.Calculate: -9.184 + 91.3 = 82.1 ml/kg/min.
- 4.Sense-check: that number sits in the elite range, which fits a 6:50 2k for a heavyweight club rower in good shape.
- 5.Cross-check with the power method: a 6:50 2k = 270 W average = 3.60 W/kg, giving 12.5 x 3.60 + 3.5 = 48.5 ml/kg/min.
The gap between the two figures is real - each method is measuring something slightly different. Klusiewicz runs high for club rowers below elite level; ACSM runs low because it treats mechanical efficiency as a flat 100%. The rower's true VO2max almost certainly lands somewhere in the 60-65 ml/kg/min middle ground.
How the estimate works
What VO2max is, and why rowers care
VO2max is the ceiling on how fast your body can pull in oxygen, move it, and burn it during flat-out effort. The figure is reported in millilitres of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute. Rowing leans hard on the aerobic system - even a 2k draws around three-quarters of its energy aerobically - which is exactly why VO2max caps how much power you can hold. Coaches at clubs such as Auckland Rowing Club and West End Rowing Club in Dunedin lean on VO2max figures to set each rower's training zones, gauge aerobic progress through a NZ season, and weigh up crew selection ahead of the Maadi Cup or NZ University Rowing Championships at Lake Ruataniwha. Mahé Drysdale, the most decorated single sculler in New Zealand history, was known for exceptional VO2max figures that underpinned his longevity at the elite level.
Estimating from a 2k time (Klusiewicz)
Working with Polish national team rowers in a laboratory setting, Klusiewicz and colleagues fitted straight-line equations linking 2k erg time in seconds to VO2max measured directly. Men: VO2max (ml/kg/min) = -0.0224 x T + 91.3. Women: VO2max = -0.0245 x T + 95.5. Because the coefficient is negative, a quicker 2k - a smaller T - returns a larger VO2max. The reference group was elite, so for club and recreational rowers the equations read on the high side. Take the output as an upper bound rather than a measurement.
Estimating from any test piece (Concept2 + ACSM)
Run any piece and the Concept2 formula hands you average power: watts = 2.80 / (pace_in_seconds_per_metre)^3. Divide that by body weight in kg for W/kg. The ACSM rowing equation - Hagerman 1984, later folded into the ACSM Guidelines for Exercise Testing - turns power-to-weight into an oxygen cost: VO2 (ml/kg/min) = 12.5 x W/kg + 3.5. It works off a fixed mechanical efficiency near 20%, which holds up well as an average even though individuals vary around it. Across a maximal effort of 5 to 30 minutes, the figure it returns is a solid stand-in for VO2max.
How accurate is the estimate?
In trained rowers, a field estimate built from rowing performance usually lands within 5 ml/kg/min of the laboratory figure. The Klusiewicz formula skews high for sub-elite rowers, simply because its validation group were national-team athletes. The ACSM power equation skews a little low, because real mechanical efficiency tends to beat the assumed 20%. Where the two methods agree to within 5 ml/kg/min, you can lean on the estimate. Where they split by more than 10, the lower of the two is generally nearer the truth.
Use this with the other Row HQ tools
With a VO2max estimate in hand, drop your 2k time into the 2k prediction calculator to see how it carries over to longer distances. Run the same 2k through the training pace calculator to pull out UT2, UT1, AT, TR and AN zone paces. And the rowing pace chart lines up pace, watts and split across every standard erg distance.
Frequently asked questions
Why is estimated VO2max from rowing reasonably accurate?
Few sports call on as much muscle mass as rowing - legs, back, core and arms all driving together - which means the cardiovascular system, not any single muscle group, is the genuine limiter. On top of that, the Concept2 ergometer delivers a clean and repeatable power output that removes much of the technique noise you would get from, say, a running field test. That combination makes a maximal rowing piece a strong proxy for whole-body VO2max. For trained athletes, field and lab values typically agree to within 5 ml/kg/min, on a par with what a 1.5-mile running time trial achieves.
Why does the formula differ by sex?
Klusiewicz built and validated separate equations for men and women because the physiology underneath is not the same: on average, women have smaller hearts, lower haemoglobin concentration, and a different body-composition starting point. A 7:00 2k pulled by a 60 kg woman represents a far harder relative effort than the identical split from a 90 kg man, which is why the two equations carry different coefficients. The Other option defaults to the male formula. No validated equation exists yet for intersex or non-binary rowers, so choose whichever one best fits your own physiology and the way you train.
How does my number compare to elite rowers?
Elite male heavyweights routinely test north of 70 ml/kg/min, and the strongest international scullers push past 80. Elite female heavyweights generally fall in the 60-65 band, with the very best clearing 70. Lightweights read a touch lower in raw terms but higher once weight is factored in. Athletes competing at NZ University Rowing Championships or Rowing New Zealand-sanctioned events tend to span 55-70 ml/kg/min, depending on the event and how long they have been training. Committed club rowers at Auckland Rowing Club or Waikato Rowing Club commonly sit 50-60 (men) or 45-55 (women), while recreational adult members usually land around 35-45.
Should I get a lab VO2 test instead?
A lab test earns its place when you need a precise, defensible baseline - stepping into a Rowing New Zealand development programme, taking part in a sports science study at an NZ university, or committing to a significant periodisation change. For ordinary week-to-week training, a field estimate off a hard 2k or 6k is accurate enough. Repeat the same piece on the same erg every 8 to 12 weeks, log the time in this calculator, and follow the trend line. A gain of 3 to 5 ml/kg/min across a winter base block is a clear sign that real aerobic adaptation is happening.
Does my 2k time predict marathon erg time?
Only loosely. VO2max fixes the upper aerobic limit, but how a marathon erg actually goes is driven far more by lactate threshold - the quickest pace you can hold aerobically - along with muscular endurance and fuelling. A higher VO2max opens up more room above threshold, yet two rowers with matching VO2max can post very different marathon times depending on how close to that ceiling each can sit for two hours. The 2k prediction calculator is dependable out to 30 minutes; for anything longer, a marathon-specific test tells you more.
How does this differ from heart rate-based VO2 estimates?
GPS watches and fitness trackers infer VO2max from how heart rate maps onto submaximal pace - an indirect chain that brings extra error along with it. For rowers the approach is especially shaky, because rowing heart rate at a given power tends to run below running heart rate at the same effort, largely a product of the seated posture and the strong venous return from the leg drive. The power-based methods in this calculator are more direct: they translate measured mechanical output straight into an oxygen cost, with heart rate left out of the equation entirely.
Sources
Formulas and benchmark bands were last verified on 17 May 2026.
- Klusiewicz A., Faff J., Starczewska-Czapowska J. (2014). Prediction of maximal oxygen uptake from indirect ergometric tests in highly trained junior rowers. Biology of Sport, 31(2), 105-110. The original validation of the 2k-time-to-VO2max linear formula.
- Klusiewicz A., Borkowski L., Sitkowski D., Burkhard-Jagodzinska K., Szczepanska B., Ladyga M. (2016). Indirect methods of assessing maximal oxygen uptake in rowers. Biology of Sport, 33(4), 333-340. Re-validation across a wider rower population, including women.
- Hagerman F. C. (1984). Applied physiology of rowing. Sports Medicine, 1(4), 303-326. The foundational power-to-VO2 relationship used in the ACSM equation.
- American College of Sports Medicine. ACSM Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, 11th edition (2021). Wolters Kluwer. The ACSM rowing VO2 equation and adult VO2max reference bands.
- Concept2 (n.d.). Watts calculator and pace-power conversion. Concept2 Indoor Rower documentation. concept2.com/training/watts-calculator. The P = 2.80 / pace^3 formula used for power calculation.
One rower's VO2max is a single calculation. A whole squad's is a coaching system.
A coach following aerobic development for thirty rowers through a New Zealand winter base block needs every 2k and 6k logged, dated, and trended. That is precisely the job Row HQ does inside coach tools and training session tracking. Combine the VO2max estimate with the training pace calculator and every rower gets individual zone targets set automatically.
More rowing tools
2k Prediction Calculator
Predict your 2k time from 5k, 6k or 30-minute test results.
Training Pace Calculator
UT2, UT1, AT, TR and AN zone paces from your 2k.
Erg Score Calculator
Weight-adjusted, age-graded percentile ranking.
Bodyweight-Adjusted Erg Score
Compare lightweight and heavyweight 2k times fairly.