Mixed
Using fixed, high-threshold end criteria (RER ≥ 1.15 or blood lactate ≥ 8.0 mmol/L) to determine maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) systematically underestimates the VO2max of older adults and women, leading to their exclusion from fitness assessments.
If you are testing older adults or women, do not use rigid cutoffs like RER ≥ 1.15 or Blood Lactate ≥ 8.0 mmol/L. These numbers are too high for their physiology and will falsely label them as 'not trying hard enough' or exclude them from your data. Use age- and sex-adjusted criteria (e.g., lower lactate thresholds for older adults) or rely on voluntary exhaustion combined with RER ≥ 1.0-1.1 to get an accurate VO2max.
When using RER ≥ 1.15 or blood lactate concentration ≥ 8.0 mmolNL–1, VO2max was 4% (P = 0.012) and 10% greater (P<0.001), respectively. A blood lactate concentration ≥ 8.0 mmolNL–1 excluded 63% of the participants in the 50–85-year-old cohort.
Why this rating
Large cross-sectional study (n=861) across a wide age range, though observational.
Source
End Criteria for Reaching Maximal Oxygen Uptake Must Be Strict and Adjusted to Sex and Age: A Cross-Sectional Study
Elisabeth Edvardsen et al. · PLoS ONE · 2014
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0085276
More from this paper
- Post-exercise blood lactate concentration decreases significantly with age, making fixed high-lactate thresholds (e.g., ≥ 8.0 mmol/L) inappropriate for older adults.Good
- Women exhibit significantly lower post-exercise blood lactate concentrations than men during maximal exercise, despite achieving similar relative exertion (Borg Scale) and RER.Good
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