Aerobic Response to Endurance Exercise Training in Children

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the ability of children to improve aerobic fitness, as indicated by changes in maximaal oxygen uptake (VO2max), after a 12-week period of endurance training. DESIGN: Longitudinal prospective training with control period. SETTING: Middle school physical education class. SUBJECTS: Twenty-four girls and 13 boys, ages 10.9 to 12.8 years. INTERVENTION: Three 30-minute sessions of aerobic activity weekly for 12 weeks at an intensity-producing a mean heart rate of 166 beats per minute. Maximal treadmill testing was performed 12 weeks before the training program and again at the start and end because each child served as his/her own control. RESULTS: Mean VO2max did not change significantly during the control period but rose from 44.7 (5.8) to 47.6 (6.4) mL kg-1min-1 (6.5%) with training (P < .05). No differences in training response were observed relative to sex, pretraining VO2max, or sports participation. CONCLUSION: These findings support the concept that VO2max can be improved with endurance training during the childhood years, but the degree of aerobic train-ability is limited in healthy, active children.