The measurement of cardio-circulatory and gas-exchange parameters during phy sical exercise - the so-called ergo spirometry or cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPX) - as a basis of pathophysiological and clinical research has a long tradition in Cologne. Knipping and his coworkers, especially Hollmann, performed basic re search work in healthy subjects. In the area of sports medicine, bicycle or treadmill exercise testing with parallel serial lactate determinations has gained increasing im portance for the assessment of cardiac functional capacity. Also, in other medical disciplines,...