MAS calculator: 6-minute test and training paces

This MAS calculator gives your maximal aerobic speed (MAS) from a 6-minute test: MAS (km/h) = distance covered in meters / 100. From there it works out your training paces as a percentage of MAS, from easy runs (60 to 70%) to short intervals (100 to 105%). If you already know your MAS, enter it directly.

I knowDistance covered in 6 minutesm

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How to use it

Do a 6-minute all-out test on a track or flat ground, after a good warm-up, and write down the distance.
Enter that distance (or your MAS if you already know it).
Read your MAS in km/h.
Use the pace table to set up your workouts: easy run, threshold, 10K pace, intervals.

The method

MAS (maximal aerobic speed), called VMA in French, is the lowest speed at which you reach your maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max). It's also known as vVO2max. A few minutes of all-out effort gets close to it: Berthon and colleagues (1997) showed that a 5-minute test gives a speed very close to the one measured in the lab. The 6-minute test, sometimes called the “half-Cooper” in France after Kenneth Cooper's 12-minute test (1968), is based on the same idea. The distance / 100 formula is simply your average speed: 1,500 m in 6 minutes is 15 km/h.

The training paces are common benchmarks in French training, expressed as a percentage of MAS (maximal aerobic speed): easy run 60 to 70%, marathon pace 75 to 80%, half marathon pace 80 to 85%, threshold 85 to 90%, 10K pace 90 to 92%, 5K pace 95 to 97%, short intervals 100 to 105%. They are starting ranges, to fine-tune with how you feel and your results.

An example

You cover 1,500 m in 6 minutes: your MAS (maximal aerobic speed) is 15 km/h (4:00 per km). Your easy run is between 9 and 10.5 km/h (6:40 to 5:43 per km), your threshold between 12.8 and 13.5 km/h (4:42 to 4:27 per km), your 10K pace between 13.5 and 13.8 km/h (4:27 to 4:21 per km) and your short intervals between 15 and 15.8 km/h (4:00 to 3:49 per km).

Limitations

The result depends on how you run the test: starting too fast or too cautiously skews the distance. Six minutes all out doesn't exactly match the time each person can hold at their MAS (maximal aerobic speed), and that time varies a lot from one runner to another (Billat and Koralsztein, 1996). The percentages are averages: a runner with great endurance will hold a marathon closer to their MAS than an explosive runner. An all-out test is a maximal effort: if you're getting back into sport, if you're over 40 with no medical follow-up, or if you have a history of heart problems, talk to a doctor first.

Frequently asked questions

How do you calculate your MAS without a test?

You can get close to it from a recent race, but it's less accurate. The simplest way is still a 5 to 6-minute all-out test on flat ground, noting the distance.

What's a good MAS?

It depends on age, sex and training; there's no single good value for everyone. What matters is your progress from one test to the next and how you use it to set your paces.

What's the difference between MAS and VO2max?

VO2max is a volume of oxygen (in ml/kg/min), MAS (maximal aerobic speed) is a speed (in km/h). MAS is the speed at which you reach your VO2max; it also depends on your running economy.

At what percentage of MAS should you do your easy runs?

Between 60 and 70% of your MAS (maximal aerobic speed) in this calculator. You should be able to talk while you run.

Does the test work on a treadmill?

Yes, but with no wind the effort is a bit easier than outdoors. On a track or flat ground, the result matches your outdoor runs better.

Sources

Berthon, P., Fellmann, N., Bedu, M. et al. (1997). A 5-min running field test as a measurement of maximal aerobic velocity. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 75, 233-238.
Billat, V. L. and Koralsztein, J. P. (1996). Significance of the velocity at VO2max and time to exhaustion at this velocity. Sports Medicine, 22(2), 90-108.
Cooper, K. H. (1968). A means of assessing maximal oxygen intake: correlation between field and treadmill testing. JAMA, 203(3), 201-204.

What if ELYO worked it out for you?

ELYO reads the workouts from your watch and works out your paces from what you actually run, with no test to redo every month. It adjusts your plan as your fitness changes.