Age was associated with a significant decline in peak oxygen consumption (0.03 and 0.04 L/min/yr in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses), related to declines in HRmax and peak oxygen pulse.
Observational (n=816)
Does health and fitness counseling improve cardiorespiratory fitness in healthy males over time?
Cardiorespiratory fitness, including peak oxygen consumption and HRmax, declines significantly with age in healthy males, though the specific impact of fitness counseling remains unclear.
PURPOSE: To report on the normative cardiorespiratory response to a graded exercise test in a group of healthy males, 30-69 yr of age (n = 816), and to test the effect of health and fitness counseling on cardiorespiratory fitness in a subset of healthy subjects (n = 87, mean follow-up = 7.3 yr) who returned for at least five subsequent visits. METHODS: As part of a preventive medicine service, each subject performed an incremental exercise test to exhaustion on a treadmill. Peak oxygen consumption, ventilatory threshold, HRmax, and peak oxygen pulse were the primary dependent measures recorded from each test. RESULTS: Both analyses (cross-sectional data followed by longitudinal data) showed a significant decline in peak oxygen consumption with age (0.03 and 0.04 L x min(-1) x yr(-1)), which was related to an age-associated decline in HRmax (0.97 and 0.81 beats per year) and peak oxygen pulse (0.13 and 0.08 mL per beat per year). Ventilatory threshold was also influenced by age, declining in both the cross-sectional (0.02 L x min(-1) x yr(-1)) and the longitudinal (0.03 L x min(-1) x yr(-1)) comparisons. However, when ventilatory threshold and peak oxygen pulse were analyzed for changes between the initial and the follow-up (7.3 yr) visits, no difference was found. It remains unclear if this finding can be attributed to the intervention used. CONCLUSION: Our data support previous investigations on the effects of age on cardiorespiratory fitness. More work is needed to define the potential longitudinal benefits of interventions like those administered in the present study.
Nelson et al. (Wed,) conducted a observational in Healthy (n=816). Health and fitness counseling was evaluated on Peak oxygen consumption, ventilatory threshold, HRmax, and peak oxygen pulse. Age was associated with a significant decline in peak oxygen consumption (0.03 and 0.04 L/min/yr in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses), related to declines in HRmax and peak oxygen pulse.
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