The Influence of Age and Cardiorespiratory Fitness on Kinetics of Oxygen Uptake

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the influences of ageing and cardiorespiratory fitness on kinetics of VO2 during the transition to exercise of moderate intensity. Subjects performed three transitions to and from a 6-minute square wave constant load, at an intensity corresponding to 90% of ventilatory threshold (VET), to determine VO2 kinetics. The young group had a significantly faster time constant of VO2 (τVO2). τVO2 was significantly correlated with VO2max for both young and old groups; however, the slope of the τVO2 - VO2max regression equation was steeper for the old group, indicating that fit older subjects had VO2 kinetics that approached those of fit young. A multiple linear regression indicated that relative fitness was the strongest significant predictor of τVO2, followed by sex and age. Although VO2 kinetics are definitely slowed with age, relative levels of cardiorespiratory fitness also have a great influence on the dynamic response of VO2. Key words: VO2max, ventilatory threshold, heart rate kinetics