Cardiopulmonary fitness is a function of lean mass, not total body weight: The DR’s EXTRA study

Division by total body weight is the usual way to standardise peak oxygen uptake (peak VO2) for body size. However, this method systematically underestimates cardiopulmonary fitness in obese individuals. Our aim was to analyse whether lean-mass is a better base for a body mass-independent standard of cardiopulmonary fitness. A population based sample of 578 men (body mass index (BMI) 19–47 kg/m2) and 592 women (BMI 16–49 kg/m2) 57–78 years of...