Exercise testing is widely used all over the world to assess functional capacity in athletes, healthy subjects and patients. According to recent surveys, the interest in ergometry is still growing in almost all fields of medicine, especially in private practice. Furthermore, there has been an exponential growth in the number of publications on exercise testing in the last years. Several consensus and task force conferences have dealt with exercise testing and published recommendations on standardization and guidelines in ergometry. These factors have, in combination, initiated an upsurge in research and clinical use of exercise testing. At the 6th International Seminar on Ergometry the latest findings and advances in ergometry were discussed. Reviews and results of the congress covering a wide range of features in exercise testing are presented in this book. The editors hope that this book will make a substantial contribution to our knowledge regarding exercise testing and will help physicians to appropriately evaluate exercise testing in healthy and diseased subjects. The editors are indepted to Miss I. Baumgartner and Mr. W. Reith for their effort in typing and preparing the manuscripts. The editors are greatful to Springer-Verlag for the close cooperation and for their expertise in publishing the present volume. N. Bachl T. Graham H. Lallgen Contents W. Hollmann The Anaerobic Threshold as a Tool in Medicine ........... 1 L. Prokop Genetic Influences on Cardiovascular Capacity ............... 12 1) ARRHYTHMIA AND EXERCISE . . . * . . * . * * . * . 19 . . .

The measurement oflactate is straightforward and reliable. The sampling is normal ly dependable, although discrepancies between sample sites can occur if samples are drawn during other than steady state conditions or when blood flow to the site is low. Comparison of data between subjects should consider intra- and interindividu al variation. Interpretation of the significance of blood or even a muscle lactate concentration is extremely difficult and neither can be assumed to reflect rates of lactate release or production. Lactate metabolism appears to be very significant in short-term, high intensity work lasting a few seconds, but the exact role remains to be established. Blood lactate and the pulmonary aspects of anaerobic threshold are not necessarily causally related and the significance of anaerobic threshold as a metabolic measure remains obscure. There are numerous examples of changes in blood or muscle lac tate independent of oxygen availability, and factors such as H+ concentration ap pear to play an important, although undefined, role in regulating lactate production and/or release."