2025/06/19 by Janis Fiedler, Maximiliane Thron, Stefan Altmann +6 · 1 voice · 1 citation
Mathematics · Medicine · #Animal science #Bicycle ergometer #Biology #Blood lactate #Blood pressure #Cardiorespiratory fitness #Cardiovascular and exercise physiology #Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research #Cycle ergometer #Demography #Heart rate #Internal medicine #Lactate threshold #Mathematics #Medicine #Physical Activity and Health #Physical therapy #Reference values #Statistics
paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/02640414.2025.2517913
published in Journal of Sports Sciences 43(16), 1654-1664 (Taylor & Francis)
openalex publication_date 2025/06/19 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Cardiovascular fitness is an important health marker but reference values for the performance at lactate thresholds are lacking. This study aimed to provide reference standards for the performance on the cycle ergometer at fixed and individual lactate threshold 2 concepts throughout the lifespan. Data from two nationwide studies in Germany (KiGGS wave 2 and DEGS1 study) were pooled to a final sample of 2389 female and 2801 male participants aged 14–64. The data includes the results of an incremental bicycle ergometer test for the parameters absolute (W) and relative (W/kg) power at a fixed (3 mmol/l, LT2fix) and at an individual lactate threshold 2 (base lactate + 1 mmol/l, LT2ind). Generalized additive models for location, scale, and shape (GAMLSS) were used to calculate the reference values. The LT2ind was reached at lower power than the LT2fix. Throughout the lifespan, relative power had its peak at 14 years, declined until age 20 and then declined further but slower until the maximum age of 64 years. Absolute power remained fairly stable until age 45 after which it slowly declined until maximum age. The presented reference values can be used for estimating cardiorespiratory fitness among adolescents and adults in Germany.