"What should my VO2 max be?" has no one-number answer: values vary by age, sex and measurement method. That is why specialists compare a person's value with their percentile within their own age-sex group. For the definition and why it matters, see What Is VO2 Max.
The most widely used US reference is the FRIEND database, built from maximal exercise tests done in laboratories. The 2015 analysis in Mayo Clinic Proceedings covers 7,783 maximal treadmill tests from people aged 20-79 without cardiovascular disease.
These numbers describe a specific US sample and laboratory testing; this article does not include a local reference table for Türkiye.
The Mandsager study of 122,007 people at Cleveland Clinic split participants into five age- and sex-adjusted fitness groups: low (bottom 25%), below average, above average, high (75th-97.6th percentile) and elite (top 2.3%). Mortality risk fell continuously across the groups, and the researchers found no evidence that the benefit levelled off.
So there is no firm cut-off for "above this is enough"; the general pattern is that moving higher within your own age-sex group was associated with lower risk in this observational data. That association is not proof of causation.
In US FRIEND data (2015), the median VO2 max at ages 20-29 was 48.0 ml/kg/min in men and 37.6 in women, falling to 24.4 and 18.3 at ages 70-79. Values vary by age and sex.
In the 2015 FRIEND data the average decline was about 10% per decade; the 2022 update found an average of 13.5% (4.0 ml/kg/min) per decade for treadmill testing.
There is no firm single threshold. In a study of 122,007 people, mortality risk fell continuously as age-adjusted fitness rose up to the elite group; this is an observational association.
The reference method is a laboratory exercise test. Watches and apps give estimates that are less precise and are best used to follow trends.