Introducntion: Maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max) is the maximum volume of oxygen that the body can utilise during a certain activity. It defines the upper limit of aerobic endurance, whose values vary from below 15 ml/min/kg in patients with heart failure to over 90 ml/min/kg in elite athletes. Only a few weeks of training or cessation of training is enough to increase or decrease this value, making it a sensitive indicator of cardiorespiratory fitness. Also, many studies show that VO2max is one of the main factors when it comes to longevity, which indicates the importance of VO2max testing. Objectives: The main objective of this research is to compare maximal oxigen uptake between third year physiotherapy students from the University of Health Studies in Rijeka and pupils from the Medical High School in Rijeka. Secondary objectives include the comparison of average heart rate and the perceived effort measured during the test. Subjects and methods: 39 subjects of both sexes, divided into two groups, participated in this research. The first group consisted of 16 students with an average age of 17,9 years, while the second group consisted of 23 students with an average age of 21,13 years. The test used in this study to predict VO2max is the Astrand-Rhyming cycle ergometer fitness test, which is performed on a Monark LC4-G3 stationary cycle ergometer. The Borg Scale for Perceived Effort was used to measure perceived effort. Results: The average VO2max for the first group is 35.28 ml/kg/min, while for the second group, it is 40.38 ml/kg/min. The average heart rate during the test for the first group is 134.69 bpm, whereas for the second group, it is 126.77 bpm. The average perceived exertion quantified using the Borg Scale for the first group was 7.62, and for the second group, it was 7.88. T-tests for individual hypotheses did not show statistical significance at the p<0.05 level, thus the hypotheses were rejected. Conclusion: No statistically significant differences were found in any of the examined parameters. Data on VO2max for both groups are lower than the average reference values from the known literature. These results are worrying because of the very high correlation between poor aerobic fitness and longevity.