Maximal oxygen intake and nomographic assessment of functional aerobic impairment in cardiovascular disease

The relationship between physical fitness and bone mass in the femoral neck, lumbar spine, and forearm was studied in 84 normal women. Femoral neck and lumbar spine bone mineral density and forearm bone mineral content were estimated by absorptiometry. Fitness was quantitated from predicted maximal oxygen uptake. Femoral neck and lumbar bone mineral density were significantly correlated with fitness as well as age and weight. In the 46 postmenopausal subjects, fitness was the only significant predictor of femoral neck bone mineral density, and both weight and fitness predicted the lumbar bone mineral density. These data represent the first demonstration of a correlation between physical fitness, and, by implication, habitual physical activity, and bone mass in the femoral neck; they also support the previous reported correlation between lumbar bone mass and physical activity. The data suggest that increased physical fitness may increase bone mass at the sites of clinically important fractures in osteoporosis.

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Physical fitness is a major determinant of femoral neck and lumbar spine bone mineral density.

Physiological basis of the sex difference in cardiorespiratory endurance.

The effects of various regimes of bicycle ergometer exercise varying in intensity, duration and frequency of effort on directly measured maximum aerobic power ($\dot V_{O_2 }$ max) have been studied on 28 healthy male subjects aged 18–38 years.

The training stimulus. The effects of intensity, duration and frequency of effort on maximum aerobic power output.

Since [Vdot]O2 max (ml/minute · kg body weight) is known to be the primary determinant of work capacity in weight-bearing exercise, the quantification of sex-specific factors influencing aerobic capacity is necessary if appropriate work capacity and endurance performance expectations and standards are to be developed for men and women. Yet, due to varying procedures and sample characteristics, large discrepancies exist among studies concerning the magnitude of the sex difference in [Vdot]O2 max. The purpose of this article is to provide an integrative review of the research comparing [Vdot]O2 max in men and women using the meta-analytic strategy proposed by Glass (1976). An overall estimate of the magnitude of the sex effect for each of three expressions of [Vdot]O2 max is provided. When removing the variability in aerobic capacity due to body size and body fatness, the magnitude of difference in [Vdot]O2 max between men and women is substantially reduced. When expressed relative to fat-free weig...

A meta-analysis of studies comparing maximal oxygen uptake in men and women.

1. Anthropometric and physiological data relevant to the capacity for exercise have been obtained in 46 healthy young adults, including 23 male and 20 female factory workers and three male athletes. 2. The measurements included maximal oxygen uptake on a cycle ergometer, cardiac frequency during submaximal exercise, total body potassium, the breadth of the limb muscles (at three sites), skinfold thickness at four sites, somatotype, forced vital capacity, transfer factor for the lung, total body haemoglobin, grip strength of the hand, vertical force during a standing jump and customary activity by questionnaire. 3. Linear regression relationships were obtained for: body potassium on thigh muscle, body weight and skinfold thickness (residual S.D. 6.4 g), maximal oxygen uptake on cardiac frequency and either body potassium or thigh muscle and forced vital capacity (residual S.D. 0.19 l min$^{-1}$), oxygen uptake during cycling on rate of work and body weight (residual S.D. 0.09 l min$^{-1}$) and maximal cardiac frequency on maximal oxygen uptake (residual S.D. 7.2 min$^{-1}$). The coefficient and constant terms for men and women, with the exception of the coefficient terms for the description of body potassium, do not differ to a material extent.

Joseph Tanner

Papers

Factors Relating to the Aerobic Capacity of 46 Healthy British Males and Females, Ages 18 to 28 Years