Abstract

Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) provides oxygen to the exercising muscles and is related to body adiposity, with cardiometabolic variables. The aim was to develop reference values and a predictive model of CRF in Chilean adolescents. A total of 741 adolescents of both genders (15.7 years old) participated in a basic anthropometry, performance in the six-minute walk test (SMWT), and in Course Navette was measured. Percentiles were determined for the SMWT, for the ˙VO2max, and an equation was developed to estimate it. The validity of the equation was checked using distribution assumptions and the Bland–Altman diagram. The STATA v.14 program was used (p < 0.05). The 50th percentile values for males and females in the SMWT and in the ˙VO2max of Course Navette were, respectively, from 607 to 690 and from 630 to 641 m, and from 43.9 to 45 and from 37.5 to 31.5 mlO2·kg·min−1, for the range of 13 to 17 years. For its part, the model to predict ˙VO2max incorporated gender, heart rate, height, waist-to-height ratio (WHR), and distance in the SMWT (R2 = 0.62; estimation error = 0.38 LO2·min−1; p <0.001). Reference values can guide physical fitness in Chilean adolescents, and ˙VO2max was possible to predict from morphofunctional variables.