Apple Watch is pretty poor at estimating VO2 max and it seems to be more correlated with how often you record exercises with said watch than with your actual health. For example I watched mine climb slowly as I prepared for my football season (beyond 50), then after the season started I I ended up playing and training just as frequently but without wearing the watch. After a few weeks (of me training and playing hard) during my next run it recorded me having a sharp decline in VO2 max (43-44ish iirc). When I started wearing it during training - you're not permitted during matches - it recorded me having a slow return to condition, without any changes to my routine.

That said if it's showing someone as having 30 I don't imagine they're going to be in spectacular condition

I had a "below average" VO2 max score based on my Apple Watch measurements. It was ~40 mL/kg/min, in the span of about a month it jumped up to 53 mL/kg/min, which is "high" for my age group. So what happened? I started running instead of cycling as my primary form of cardio.

My hypothesis is that the apple watch estimates higher if you are running rather than pedaling. I definitely don't think my cardio vascular went from poor to great over a month. It seems more likely that it was maybe underestimating, and perhaps now is overestimating.

> he had a vo2max of 30, that probably means he can’t run a mile in less than 12 minutes or so. He’s probably not at all healthy…

Health and fitness correlate but are different things. VO2max is more about fitness than about health.

Also, looking at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VO2_max#Reference_values, 30 is about average for men in their 40s/50s, which, form a quick google, I estimate is the author’s age range.

Compared to the average patient a typical GP sees, someone who can actually run a mile is probably doing pretty well.

If Apple watch said anything about that it's probably wrong. It can't accurately measure VO2 max.

Incidentally I got rid of mine recently. It is bliss not having one.

Also VO2 max is a crappy measure of fitness. I apparently had "average" VO2 max after a treadmill test. I can hike 50km with a 2km elevation gain in one go and not die. People with higher VO2 max I know, dropped out.