Prevention & lipidsCross-sectional study
Exercise blood pressure relative to fitness in male elite athletes: stage-specific response patterns and athlete-specific reference limits
- Cross-sectional study
Authors' conclusion
In male elite athletes, SBP/METpeak is workload-dependent and closely linked to aerobic fitness.
Study context
- Population
- Healthy male elite athletes (age 25.5 ± 5 y) from mixed sports undergoing a standardized maximal graded cycling test
- Participants
- 474 athletes
- Outcome
- Stage-specific SBP/METpeak reference limits
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
SBP/METpeak
- Peak SBP/METpeak (mean ± SD), mmHg/METpeak
- 15.68 ± 3.53
- SBP/METpeak at 100 W
- 11.63 ± 2.79
- SBP/METpeak at 250 W
- 14.49 ± 3.59
- SBP/METpeak at 300 W
- 14.50 ± 3.43
- SBP/METpeak at 350 W
- 13.40 ± 3.01
- SBP/METpeak at 400 W
- 12.14 ± 2.89
- Stage-specific P75 peak at 250-300 W, mmHg/METpeak
- 16.7
- Stage-specific P90 at 200-300 W, mmHg/METpeak
- 18.20-19.27
- Exceeded 18 mmHg/METpeak at least once up to 400 W
- 21.9%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Fitness vs peak SBP/METpeak
- Strong inverse association (r)
- −0.811, P < 0.001
Exercise performance
- Mean achieved workload, W
- 360.7 ± 92.8
- METpeak
- 13.1 ± 3.1
- Maximal SBP, mmHg
- 196.9 ± 20.7
Original publication
Exercise blood pressure relative to fitness in male elite athletes: stage-specific response patterns and athlete-specific reference limits. Eur J Prev Cardiol. Published 19 June 2026. doi:10.1093/eurjpc/zwag322
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it