How do you determine VO2 max?

[Maestro]

A news article I read earlier this week gave a link to this web page to calculate one's VO2 max and thus determine one's "fitness age". Is it really this easy to calculate VO2 max? I mean, what has the waist measurement, regardless of height or weight or waist-to-hip ratio, got to do with it?

[Sheryl]

Measurement of VO2 max requires measuring oxygen and CO2 concentrations of expired air during exercise.

This website does not calculate that. Nor anything else with precision.

(That said, waist circumference is a valuable indicator of whether or not one is obese/at risk of complications of obesity such as diabetes, heart disease. And of course, frequency of exercise is important).