Maximal oxygen uptake and related functions in male and female athletes

Abstract

Exercise and work physiologists agree that theevaluation of maximum oxygen intake capacity isessential in the objective evaluation of an individual'scapacity to perform aerobic work. This index is relatedto cardiovascular-respiratory capacity and for years hasbeen accepted as a criterion for the assessment ofphysical fitness, ie. cardiovascular fitness. However, evenwith the great amount of research done in the area ofapplied physiology, the research is still typicallyexperimental in nature and results are often contradictory.This is partially due to the relatively smallnumber of subjects tested, and the differences anddifficulties in experimental technique. Nevertheless, it isagreed that a substantial relationship between endurancecapacity and maximum oxygen uptake exists which isindependent of the form in which the maximum oxygenuptake is reported. In most investigations, subjects havebeen highly trained endurance male athletes, and maximumoxygen uptake has been correlated with otheranthropometric and cardio-respiratory parametersincluding body weight, cardiac output, haemoglobincontent, heart rate and pulmonary ventilation etc.The present study was designed to obtain values formaximum oxygen consumption in both male and femaletrained athletes during strenuous exercise on the bicycleergometer, and to determine any existing relationshipsbetween maximum oxygen consumption and pulmonaryventilation, heart rate and work capacity.