Tools / VO2max & W/kg
VO2max & W/kg
Two estimates that answer each other: what your frame promises, and what your engine delivers. The gap between them is your training programme. And since only W/kg counts once the road goes up, we tell you where you sit in the pack.
The two models
Frame (Jem Arnold)
An anthropometric model: weight, height, age, sex. It predicts the VO2max “expected” for your machine, independent of your training. That is your genetic-structural baseline. Not your ceiling, not your level.
Engine (ACSM)
VO2max ≈ (10.8 × MAP / weight) + 7. MAP is your maximal aerobic power (~5 min flat out). It measures what you actually produce. A 5-minute field test beats an estimate derived from FTP, but you have to accept five minutes of suffering.
Statistical estimates · only a lab measures