Free · 3 minutes · VO₂max for adults 50+
Cardio fitness / VO₂max · One of the strongest predictors of longevity
Build cardio fitness to support better health, whether you are starting fresh, rebuilding after health challenges, or staying active. If you can walk, you can start here. Discover your fitness starting point, begin making progress this week, and follow a 12-month path designed by a team of experts.
Then we show you the VO₂max training secrets most people are never told.
Cardio Fitness Focused Walking Plan: Starts where you are today. Your answers stay private and are only used to build your plan.
Developing for a 62-year-old man. A consistent walking plan could move him into the Good band within 12 months.
Your 7-day start · Day 3 is your VO₂max interval day
Your doctor tracks your blood pressure, blood sugar and weight. But one of the strongest signals of how long and how well you will live is rarely measured: your cardio fitness, also called VO₂max.
VO₂max is how well your body takes in and uses oxygen when you move. The higher it is, the easier everyday life feels. You do not need a lab to estimate it. Your age, heart rate, steps and a few other details are enough to get a useful starting point.
Better cardio fitness is linked to better outcomes across chronic conditions, including heart disease, heart failure and cancer. Improvements in cardio fitness were associated with lower risk of death in people with and without cardiovascular disease.
Sources: Lang JJ, et al. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2024 (overview of 199 cohort studies, 20.9 million observations). Bettariga F, et al. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2025 (cancer). Kokkinos P, et al. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2023, volume 81, pages 1137 to 1147 (changes in fitness, with and without cardiovascular disease).
the risk of death from any cause for people with high vs low cardio fitness (Lang 2024)
lower risk for every 1-MET (3.5 mL/kg/min) rise in fitness (Lang 2024)
a gain of 1 MET or more was linked to lower risk of death, in people with or without heart disease (Kokkinos 2023)
In a study of 122,007 adults, low cardiorespiratory fitness carried a higher risk of death than smoking, type 2 diabetes or coronary artery disease. The most fit group had about one fifth the risk of the least fit.
Higher fitness is linked with lower risk of death from all causes, across ages and health conditions.
Climbing stairs, carrying groceries, travelling, keeping up with grandchildren. Fitness is the reserve that makes it all easier.
Instead of juggling ten health targets, you focus on one number you can measure, improve and watch rise: your VO₂max.
The Memios VO₂max method
Most people over 50 hear “get more exercise.” Almost no one is told how VO₂max actually rises, how hard to push, or how to keep it rising month after month. These are the five things built into every Memios plan.
It is not fixed by your genes or your birthday. In the Generation 100 trial, adults aged 70 to 77 did intervals twice a week for five years. Their VO₂peak did not decline, and the interval group finished 0.7 mL/kg/min above the comparison group. Your starting point is just that: a starting point.
Source: Stensvold D, et al. BMJ. 2020, volume 371, article m3485.
Most of your walking should be comfortable enough to hold a conversation. This steady base strengthens your heart and lets you recover, so you are ready for the days that count.
Steps alone plateau. A few minutes of brisker walking, inside a heart-rate range, is the signal that tells your body to raise its VO₂max. Too easy does little. Too hard sets you back. The range is the secret. Memios sets it for you when you wear a watch and enter your resting heart rate.
What raises your VO₂max in month one will not raise it in month six. Your plan steadily progresses interval length, number and intensity, so your body keeps adapting instead of stalling.
You re-score every month, and your plan is rebuilt from the new number. You always train at the level your body is ready for, not the level you were at last quarter.
Your watch can show a number. A step app can count. Memios is built around raising that number, with the intensity and progression worked out for you.
Estimates your VO₂max
Memios
Yes, explained for your age
Tells you what it means for your health
Memios
Yes, in plain English
Sets the right intensity for you
Memios
Your own heart-rate range, with a watch and your resting heart rate
Progresses intervals month by month
Memios
Yes, a 12-month path
Rebuilt from your latest score
Memios
Every month
Built for 50+ with health conditions
Memios
Yes, by clinical experts
It matters for many conditions, and it is one of the few things fully in your hands. It works alongside your care team, not in place of it.
The American Diabetes Association recommends at least 150 minutes a week of moderate to vigorous activity. It suggests starting with 10 to 15 minutes of walking.
Source: American Diabetes Association, Standards of Care in Diabetes 2025, Section 5
Cardiac rehab is a medically supervised program designed to improve your cardiovascular health. It is for people who have had a heart attack, heart failure, angioplasty or heart surgery. It has three parts: exercise training, education for heart-healthy living, and counseling to reduce stress. Ask your doctor whether it is right for you.
Source: American Heart Association, What is Cardiac Rehabilitation?
In trials of people with heart failure, exercise programs lowered hospital stays and improved quality of life. They did not change death rates. Most people in these trials trained under medical supervision, so ask your doctor before you start.
Source: Molloy C, et al. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2024, CD003331 (60 trials, 8,728 people)
Exercise improves heart health and helps maintain muscle mass and bone density. For people with chronic kidney disease, the recommendation is moderate activity for at least 150 minutes a week, such as brisk walking, biking or swimming. Talk with your healthcare team before you start.
Source: American Kidney Fund, Physical Activity and Kidney Health
In a review of studies, fit people with overweight or obesity had a death risk similar to fit people at a normal weight.
Source: Barry VW, et al. Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases. 2014
Studies show regular exercise can lower systolic pressure by about 4 to 10 mm Hg over one to three months. The benefit lasts only while you keep exercising.
Source: Mayo Clinic
Facing a hurdle like cancer? In a review of 42 studies of people diagnosed with cancer, high muscle strength or high cardio fitness was linked to a 31–46% lower risk of death from any cause than low levels.
Source: Bettariga F, et al. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2025 (systematic review and meta-analysis)
In a post hoc analysis of the STEP 1 trial, lean body mass fell 9.7% from its starting level in people taking semaglutide. Your plan adds cardio, strength and protein targets to counteract muscle loss.
Because VO₂max is measured per kilogram of body weight, protecting muscle while you lose weight is what lets your score climb for the right reasons.
Source: STEP 1 trial, post hoc body composition analysis
It is about knowing where you are today, what your body can handle, and what to do next. Your starting point becomes a practical plan for stamina, strength and daily capability.
Fitness rises when you do a few simple things, consistently, at the right effort level for you and your body. And we show you the one most people never hear about.
Raise your daily steps gradually from where you are now. Consistency beats intensity.
Most of your walking should be easy enough that you can still hold a conversation.
Once or twice a week, a few minutes of faster walking within a safe heart-rate range, set from your watch and resting heart rate.
Simple strength work supports your walking, protects muscle and makes daily tasks easier.
Enough protein and fiber fuels your energy and helps you keep muscle as you get fitter.
As your score rises, your plan rises with it, so you keep improving without overdoing it.
Proper progression, at the right intensity, over time
Months 1–3
Build the baseGradually raise your daily steps, keep most walks easy, and add one brisk interval day a week.
Months 4–6
Raise the ceilingMove to two interval days. Intervals get a little longer and a little brisker as your score rises.
Months 7–12
Keep it climbingIntervals and strength keep progressing, rebuilt every month from your latest score, so your VO₂max keeps moving instead of levelling off.
Free Plan
12-Month Plan Available
What you get today, free
An estimated VO₂max, explained simply, and where you sit for your age.
Daily step goals, one VO₂max interval day and nutrition targets that match your fitness and your time.
A realistic range for where steady effort could take your score at 3, 6 and 12 months.
Find your starting point
Answer a few questions. Your score, your 7-day walking plan and your 12-month outlook appear right here.
Give myMemios a little information and we can calculate your VO₂max starting point, your 7-day walking plan and your 12-Month Plan, based on your current health and fitness. It takes about 3 minutes.
Seven days that set your starting point.
Where steady effort could take you.
Ranges, not promises. Your results depend on your health and how consistently you follow your plan.
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Meet your team
Behind Memios plans are experts with decades of experience who understand what it takes to get fitter with a health condition after 50. Here is who is behind yours.
Chief Clinical Education Officer, founder of CETI
If you are not sure how hard is too hard, Andrea makes sure your plan starts at the right level for your body and your health, and tells you which warning signs to watch for.
Andrea founded CETI and has more than 30 years of experience training exercise specialists. She leads clinical education at Memios.
Vice President, Nutrition
If you are not sure what to eat to get fitter, or you are on a GLP-1 and worried about losing muscle, Wendy helps you fuel your progress, protect your strength and manage side effects that get in the way of eating well and staying active.
Wendy leads nutrition at Memios. She builds the food guidance behind your plan, including support for people on GLP-1 and weight-loss medication.
Chief Longevity Officer, PhD, FNP-BC, FAAN
If you have tried to get fitter and stalled, Dr. Schwartz builds the walking, interval and strength progression that moves your cardio fitness score up, month after month.
Dr. Schwartz holds a PhD, is a board-certified family nurse practitioner and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. She leads longevity at Memios and designs the cardio and strength programming.
Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Harness is a physician who owns the clinical content behind your plan.
Dr. Harness is Chief Medical Officer at Memios. He reviews the clinical content so your plan rests on sound medicine.
Andrea, Dr. Schwartz and Wendy design the exercise, VO₂max interval, strength and nutrition programming behind myMemios, and Dr. Harness owns the clinical content. Every month, your plan is rebuilt from your latest score using their approach.
After you get started, check out the plans to give you direct, one-on-one support and advice from the team.
An exercise specialist reviews your physical health and history. A Registered Dietitian reviews your nutrition.
Individual exercise or nutrition sessions built around your plan.
A telehealth assessment with a licensed prescriber, then monthly appointments. The pharmacy bills medication separately.
Eight weekly live classes on exercise and nutrition. Eight to 10 people, one instructor.
Ask about 1:1 support after you start.
Memios provides fitness, nutrition and habit guidance. For GLP-1 and other weight-loss medications, our team of licensed health care providers can prescribe and manage your medication after a telehealth assessment.
Your 12-month plan
A week gets you started. A year changes what your VO₂max, and your body, can do.
Plans are monthly. Cancel anytime.
Example only, for a 62-year-old man starting at a VO₂max of 25 mL/kg/min and following his plan consistently. Numbers are rounded, bars show the middle of each range, and the percent inside each bar is the gain from today.
VO₂max (mL/kg/min)
Ranges, not promises. Your results depend on your health, your starting point and how consistently you follow your plan.
Andrew Wilson's VO₂max from Apple Health, shown as weekly averages. The dashed line is his goal.
“By following the Walking Plan, I can see my health improving as represented by VO₂max.”Andrew Wilson, Founder and CEO
Greg Hendrickson's VO₂max from Apple Health, June 4 to July 4, 2026.
“After focusing on my VO₂max, I was able to increase my score by about 6 points in 30 days. Fewer headaches, aches and pains, and lower blood pressure.”Greg Hendrickson, Co-Founder
Individual results. Not typical of every user.
How it works
Share enough to estimate your starting point and personalize your first week.
Understand your cardio fitness estimate in plain English.
Begin with daily step goals, nutrition targets and one focused VO₂max interval day.
Designed by our team. Your intervals and strength progress month by month. Plans are monthly and you can cancel anytime.
Retake your score and your plan rebuilds from it.
Questions
There is no single workout. VO₂max rises with mostly easy walking, short brisk intervals at the right heart-rate range (set from a watch and your resting heart rate), and a plan that gets a little harder as you improve. Most people do the first part and never get the other two. Your plan builds in all three.
Yes. Adults in their 70s still respond to training. In the Generation 100 trial, adults aged 70 to 77 did interval training twice a week for five years. Their VO₂peak did not decline, and the interval group finished 0.7 mL/kg/min above the comparison group (Stensvold D, et al. BMJ. 2020). Your plan starts at a level that fits your body today.
Your plan starts with steady walking and adds brisker intervals and strength work over time, at a level that fits your body today.
Your plan starts from where you are today and progresses gradually. Use it alongside your clinician's guidance, and check with them before you change your exercise or nutrition if you have a medical concern.
Your plan builds fitness and strength, and sets protein and fiber targets. If you want GLP-1 or another weight-loss medication, our team of licensed health care providers can prescribe it after a telehealth assessment. If you already take one, we work alongside your prescriber.
Andrea Leonard, Wendy Gough, Dr. Anna Schwartz and Dr. Jay Harness. You can meet them above.
No. Memios gives general fitness, nutrition, habit and tracking guidance. It is not a diagnosis, a treatment or a substitute for your doctor.
No. The point is to start from where you are today, even if that means starting slowly.
That is fine. Memios estimates your starting point from your age, sex, height, weight, resting heart rate and daily steps. It is an estimate, not a lab test.
Your watch can show a number. Memios explains what it means for you and gives you a plan to raise it, with the right intensity and progression, rebuilt each month from your latest score.
Your plan rebuilds from your latest score, so it meets you where you are instead of where you were supposed to be.
Your information belongs to you. You decide what is saved, changed, deleted or shared.
You can save your roadmap in myMemios. Reclaim rebuilds your plan each month from your latest score.
Your score and your first 7-day walking plan are free. The 12-month plan, Reclaim, is $49 a month and you can cancel anytime.
Find your cardio fitness score, get your free 7-day walking plan, and follow a 12-month path built by experts for your real life after 50.
Get my score and walking planFree · About 3 minutes