Oura Adds Cardio Effort and VO₂ Max Metrics to Broaden Workout Tracking

Oura has dominated the smart-ring market for years, but rivals including RingConn and Ultrahuman are emerging, TechCrunch reported. The company is using more advanced workout metrics to differentiate itself. Cardio Effort is intended to show how much a workout taxes the cardiovascular system, with measurements aggregated over a week relative to each user’s individual baseline. Oura said the metric shifts focus from “How many minutes did I move?” to whether a user is maintaining fitness, building it, or overdoing it.

Because Cardio Effort accounts for both intensity and duration, a shorter, more intense workout can produce a score similar to a longer, less intense session, according to the company. The metric has two parts: Workout Cardio Effort, which evaluates an individual workout, and Weekly Cardio Effort, which aggregates effort into a weekly total labeled “Light,” “Fair,” “Maintaining,” “Building,” or “Reaching.” Oura measures elevated heart rate against each member’s long-term resting heart rate, avoiding variability tied to maximum-heart-rate estimates. Weekly effort levels use personalized ranges based on recent activity patterns. Cardio Effort is rolling out to Oura Ring Gen3 and later models.

VO₂ max is designed to show how workouts contribute to long-term fitness by measuring how effectively the heart, lungs and muscles deliver and use oxygen during exercise. Oura said VO₂ max previously typically required a lab test or a six-minute walking test; the company can now estimate it passively using GPS-enabled workouts. After five qualifying activities, users receive an initial VO₂ max estimate. In the My Health Heart Hub, they can see their current estimate in ml/kg/min, their fitness category—Low, Fair, High or Peak—how the estimate has changed over time and when it was last updated. Users also receive insights when VO₂ max changes meaningfully or remains consistent. VO₂ max is launching in Oura Labs, the company’s hub for experimental features, for members with Gen3 and newer devices.

Oura said the two features are designed to work together, showing users how hard they are working and how that effort adds up over time.

Editor's Summary

Oura is adding Cardio Effort and VO₂ max to its smart ring, giving users weekly cardiovascular-load feedback and passive long-term fitness estimates. The rollout covers Gen3 and newer devices, with VO₂ max initially available through Oura Labs. The move aims to sharpen Oura’s differentiation as RingConn and Ultrahuman increase competition.