Uphill

Eight minutes. One honest number.

Find out how fit your heart and lungs really are with an 8-minute walk. Then follow a personalised plan that adapts after every session, with live guidance as you go, built to raise your VO2 max. No running needed.

Coming soon to the App Store.

Free to test. Free to retest. For good.

The Uphill Today screen at sunrise on Kosciuszko. A VO2 max of 38.4 ml/kg/min sits on the mountain, in the Fair band. Below it: cardio age about 45, resting heart rate 52 bpm, zone minutes 43 of 146, Kosciuszko 1,504 m to go, and the next session, an Interval session on Mon 12 Oct: 25 min, 5.6 km/h, 11%.

The number worth knowing.

VO2 max is how much oxygen your body can use when you work hard. It is one of the strongest predictors of a long, healthy life.1 And you can improve it at any age.

Where you stand for your age.

Four minutes flat. Four minutes uphill.

Walk at one steady speed while Uphill reads your heart rate. You get your VO2 max, and where you stand for your age.

  • 8 minThe whole test.
  • 4 + 4Flat, then a 5% incline.
  • 0Sprints.
The Progress screen: up 6.3 since April, seven tests. A chart shows VO2 max climbing from 32.1 in April to 38.4 ml/kg/min in October, in the Fair band, with Good starting at 40.7. Below: better than 52 in every 100 men aged 40 to 49.
See where you stand for your age.

The test is a published, validated walking test (Ebbeling et al., 1991).2

You don't need to be an athlete.

You need eight minutes and a treadmill, at any age, from any starting point.

  • No account.

    No sign-up. Open it and walk.

  • No watch? No problem.

    Type in your heart rate from the treadmill's own sensor.

  • Or connect one.

    Apple Watch, AirPods that measure heart rate, and most watches, bands and chest straps.

Why not just use your watch?

Most watches only estimate VO2 max from outdoor walks or runs, and need several of them, over days or weeks, before they show a number. Heat, humidity, cold, wind and hills all change your heart rate along the way, and ice or snow can keep you indoors altogether. Uphill tests you on a treadmill in 8 minutes, the same way every time. So when your number moves, it's you that changed, not the weather.

Outdoors
Indoors

Starts where you are. Moves as you do.

A plan built to raise your VO2 max, one session at a time.

Each session sets your speed, incline and heart rate zone. Afterwards, the plan adjusts to your heart rate and how it felt.

The Plan screen: week 2 of 4, with the next test on Fri 30 Oct. Bars show minutes in zone for each week, 43 of 146 so far this week. Next week lists an Interval session on Mon 12 Oct, 25 min at 5.6 km/h and 11%, and a Moderate session on Wed 14 Oct.

18%

In a two-year trial of previously sedentary adults averaging 53 years old, structured exercise raised VO2 max by 18%.3

Regular cardio exercise improves your heart health and fitness. Uphill turns it into a plan you can follow.

One glance tells you what to do.

  • The live screen in blue during an Interval session: Build up, 32 below your zone. Heart rate 114 bpm, zone 146 to 162.
    Build up
  • The live screen in green: In your zone, hold this pace. Heart rate 152 bpm, zone 146 to 162.
    In your zone
  • The live screen in amber: Ease off a little, 4 above your zone. Heart rate 166 bpm, zone 146 to 162.
    Ease off a little
  • The live screen in red: Ease off, 9 above your zone. Heart rate 171 bpm, zone 146 to 162.
    Ease off

Mountains you climb by walking.

Your incline adds up to the Seven Summits. Your distance carries you along the Kokoda Track, the Camino de Santiago and the Appalachian Trail. They are earned by showing up, not by speed, so they are fair at any age.

Part of Uphill Pro.

The Today screen on Kilimanjaro: VO2 max 38.4, Kilimanjaro 2,650 m to go.
The Today screen on Vinson: VO2 max 38.4, Vinson 3,120 m to go.
The Today screen on Denali: VO2 max 38.4, Denali 3,700 m to go.
The Today screen on Everest: VO2 max 38.4, Everest 7,080 m to go.
The app changes as you climb.
  • Kosciuszko
  • Vinson
  • Elbrus
  • Kilimanjaro
  • Denali
  • Aconcagua
  • Everest

Take it to your next check-up.

A clear PDF report of your results and trend, ready to share.

Page 1 of the fitness report for your doctor: a VO2 max of 38.4 ml/kg/min, likely range 33.5 to 43.3, in the 52nd percentile for men aged 40 to 49. A chart shows the trend over seven tests from April to October, with a table of every test below it.

Everything in Uphill.

  • Uphill on Apple Watch during a session: Build up, 114 bpm, 32 below your zone, with 24:41 left.

    On your wrist.

    Uphill works with Apple Watch in every test and session.

  • A cardio age, not just a number.

    Uphill Pro shows what your result means as a cardio age.

  • Free retests.

    As often as you like, for good.

  • Any gym treadmill.

    Eight minutes on any gym treadmill.

  • At any age.

    You can improve it at any age.

  • No running needed.

    Walking is enough.

No ads, ever. Your data stays with you.

Free and Pro

Free

Know where you stand.

  • Find out your VO2 max in 8 minutes: one of the strongest predictors of a long life1
  • See how your fitness compares with people your age
  • Retest as often as you like and watch your fitness change
  • Try a training session, free
  • Earn awards as your fitness improves

Uphill Pro

Raise it.

  • Raise the number most closely linked to living longer1, with a plan that adjusts to you after every session and test
  • Never wonder what to do on the treadmill: Uphill tells you when to push and when to ease off
  • Know when you'll reach your goal, and watch the date come closer
  • See your heart get younger as your cardio age falls
  • See your heart recover faster as you get fitter
  • Give your doctor the full picture: your fitness, progress, heart rate, recovery and training, in a report they can read at a glance

A yearly or one-off lifetime purchase.

There's no trial, because the test is free for good.

Why I built Uphill

I'm in my late 40s and I'm not an athlete. Where I live, it is often too hot, too humid or too wet to exercise outdoors. I wanted to know my VO2 max and improve it. So I built Uphill: a test based on validated science that I can do on a treadmill at a walk, and a personalised plan that adapts after every session. I built it for myself first. Now it's yours too.

Colin

Every climb starts on the flat.

The test is free, and so is every retest.

Coming soon to the App Store.