Cardiorespiratory responses during prolonged exercise

Three healthy male subjects 20 years of age were exercised for 2—8 hr riding a bicycle ergometer or walking on a treadmill. Higher heart rates were found with the bicycle rides than with the walking exercises with equivalent oxygen uptakes. The subjects could not work on the bicycle ergometer at oxygen uptakes of 1.8 liters/min for more than 4 hr but could with this uptake walk 8 hr. The results indicated that an 8-hr period of exercise could be completed without undue fatigue whenever the energy cost did not exceed 35% of the maximum oxygen uptake where heart rates, oxygen uptakes, and rectal temperatures remained below 120 beats/min, 1.4 liters/min, and 38 C, respectively. The heart rate appeared to be the important factor for estimating 8-hr work endurance. A rate of 140 beats/min could not be maintained for more than 4 hr or a rate of 160 beats/min for more than 2 hr without extreme fatigue.