Work

Surrogate Markers of Cardiorespiratory Fitness for Performance and Health: A Narrative Review

Year: 2026

Type: review

Abstract: Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is both an indicator of athletic performance and disease and mortality risk. The gold standard for measuring CRF is a VO2peak test, which is inaccessible to the general population and non-elite athletes. Thus, there is a need to identify surrogate markers for CRF that can easily be implemented in the general population and in athletes. This narrative review aims to identify easily measured surrogate markers of CRF that correlate with CRF and changes in CRF, predict or correlate with athletic performance, and correlate with health outcomes and changes in health outcomes. Time to fatigue was identified as the most complete surrogate marker of CRF in both the general population and in athletes. However, other surrogate markers of CRF, such as time trials, may also be implemented if time to fatigue is not suitable.

Source: Applied Sciences

DOI: 10.3390/app16189225

Authors: Joshua J. Aube, Lucas P. R. Beaupre, Brendon J. Gurd

Institution: Queen's University

Language: English

Topic: Cardiovascular and exercise physiology

Subfield: Complementary and alternative medicine

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,896