Cardio calculator
Rockport walk test calculator
Estimate VO₂ max from a one-mile walk — enter your weight, age, sex, walk time, and the heart rate you finished on. Free, instant, no sign-up.
Walking fitness is a real base to build on — the coach turns it into a progression.
What is the Rockport walk test?
The Rockport test — also called the one-mile walk test — asks you to walk exactly one mile as fast as you comfortably can, then record your time and the heart rate you finish on. Because it never requires running, it works for people who cannot safely do a maximal running test: older adults, beginners, and anyone returning from injury.
How this calculator works
We use the Kline et al. (1987) equation: VO₂ max = 132.853 − 0.0769 × weight in pounds − 0.3877 × age + 6.315 × sex − 3.2649 × walk time in minutes − 0.1565 × heart rate, with sex counted as 1 for men and 0 for women. Weight entered in kilograms is converted before the equation runs, and a walk time of 15 minutes 30 seconds is entered as 15.5 minutes internally.
Running the test properly
Use a measured flat mile — a 400 m track is four laps plus about 9 m. Warm up, then walk the whole mile at a steady, brisk pace without breaking into a jog. Take your pulse immediately as you cross the line, ideally with a chest strap or watch rather than counting by hand, because a heart rate that drifts down while you fumble for it inflates your score.
How accurate is it?
The equation was validated on adults roughly 30 to 69 years old and carries a standard error of around 5 ml/kg/min. It tends to overestimate for very fit people, who simply cannot push a walk hard enough to reach a useful heart rate — they are better served by a run-based test. Treat the number as a baseline to re-test against, not a lab measurement.