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Maximal aerobic exercise capacity (V̇O2max) is one of the strongest predictors of morbidity and mortality. Aerobic exercise training can increase V̇O2max, but inter-individual variability is marked and unexplained physiologically. The mechanisms underlying this variability have major clinical implications for extending human healthspan. Here, we report the first comprehensive, RNA-seq study of circulating transcriptome signatures related to ΔV̇O2max. We used RNA-seq to characterize transcriptomic predictors of ΔV̇O2max in healthy women who completed a 16-week, randomized controlled trial comparing higher vs. lower aerobic exercise training volume and intensity (four training groups, fully crossed). We found striking baseline gene expression differences in subjects who responded to aerobic exercise training with robust (R) vs. little/no (NR) ΔV̇O2max.