EFFECT OF EXPERIMENTAL ALTERATIONS IN EXCESS WEIGHT ON AEROBIC CAPACITY AND DISTANCE RUNNING PERFORMANCE

  • 1 January 1978
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 10  (3) , 194-199
Abstract
To experimentally investigate the effect of excess body weight or fat on maximal O2 uptake (.ovrhdot.VO2 max) and distance running performance, the metabolic response to maximal and submaximal treadmill running and 12 min run performance were measured in 6 subjects under each of 4 added-weight (AW) conditions: normal body weight and 5, 10 and 15% additional external weight, added to the trunk. AW systematically and significantly decreased .ovrhdot.VO2 max expressed relative to the total weight carried (ml/min .cntdot. kg TW), maximal treadmill (TM) run time and 12 min run distance, but not to systematically affect .ovrhdot.VO2 max (l/min) on .ovrhdot.VO2 max (ml/min .cntdot. kg FFW). An increase of 5% AW was found, on the average, to decrease .ovrhdot.VO2 max (ml/min .cntdot. kg TW) 2.4 ml, the TM run time 35 s and the 12 min run distance 89 m. These decreases were a direct consequence of the increased energy cost of running at submaximal speeds. Changes in excess body weight can apparently influence .ovrhdot.VO2 max expressed relative to body weight and distance run performance independent of any change in cardiovascular capacity. Failure to distinguish the metabolic effects of body fatness from the influence of cardiorespiratory capacity may result in misleading interpretation of distance run test scores.