Normative cardiorespiratory values in Italian first-division male 
soccer players: effects of age, playing position and season phase

Adriano Di Paco; Pierantonio Laveneziana; Paolo Onorati; Luca Trotta; Gennaro Boccia

doi:10.5114/biolsport.2025.144406

eISSN: 2083-1862
ISSN: 0860-021X

Biology of Sport

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abstract:

Original paper

Normative cardiorespiratory values in Italian first-division male soccer players: effects of age, playing position and season phase

Adriano Di Paco

¹

,

Pierantonio Laveneziana

^{2, 3}

,

Paolo Onorati

⁴

,

Luca Trotta

⁵

,

Gennaro Boccia

⁶

Lung Unit Casa di cura San Rossore, Pisa, Italy
AP-HP, Groupe Hospitalier Universitaire APHP-Sorbonne Université, Hôpitaux Pitié-Salpêtrière, Saint-Antoine et Tenon, Service des Explorations Fonctionnelles de la Respiration, de l’Exercice et de la Dyspnée (Département R3S), F-75013 Paris, France
Sorbonne Université, INSERM, UMRS1158 Neurophysiologie Respiratoire Expérimentale et Clinique, F-75005 Paris, France
Presidio Tisiopneumologico e Fisiopatologia Respiratoria, Distretto Sanitario Alghero, ASL1 Sassari, ARES Sardegna, Italy
San Rossore Sport Village, Pisa, Italy
NeuroMuscular Function Research Group, Deparment of Clinical and Biological Sciences, University of Turin, Torino, Italy

Biol Sport. 2025;42(2):199–206

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5114/biolsport.2025.144406

Online publish date: 2024/10/25

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The study aimed to provide reference values of cardiorespiratory parameters and maximal exercise velocity (MEV) of first-division soccer players measured during a ramp exercise running test. A large (N = 741) database of cardiopulmonary exercise tests collected over a decade on Serie A teams in Italy was scrutinized. The reference values were stratified for age, playing position, and season phase. We found an average V̇O₂peak of 4.78±0.56 l/min, a relative V̇O₂peak of 61.5±5.96 ml/kg/min and an MEV of 19.0±1.3 km/h. Relative V̇O₂peak was constant from 18 to 30 years of age and then decreased, while MEV decreased constantly with increasing age. While the absolute V̇O₂peak was similar for all playing roles (P = 0.782), the midfielders were the players with the highest relative V̇O₂peak (P = 0.020) and they had lower body mass than the others (P < 0.001). This study presents estimates of the influence of age, player position, and season phase on V̇O₂peak in men’s elite soccer. V̇O₂peak values ~62 ml/kg/min fulfil the demands for V̇O₂peak in men’s professional soccer. Midfielders showed larger relative, but not absolute, V̇O₂peak.

keywords:

Normative cardiorespiratory values in Italian first-division male soccer players: effects of age, playing position and season phase

Adriano Di Paco 1 , Pierantonio Laveneziana 2, 3 , Paolo Onorati 4 , Luca Trotta 5 , Gennaro Boccia 6

Aerobic capacity, Fitness, CPET, Football, Ventilation, Oxygen uptake

Adriano Di Paco

¹

,

Pierantonio Laveneziana

^{2, 3}

,

Paolo Onorati

⁴

,

Luca Trotta

⁵

,

Gennaro Boccia

⁶