Maximum and submaximum exercise tests in men and women in the seventh, eighth, and ninth decades of life

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Abstract
Maximum and submaximum exercise tests were carried out on 26 men and women aged 60-83 yr. The usual criterion of an O2 plateau (.DELTA..ovrhdot.VO2 [change in O2 consumption] .ltoreq. 2 ml/kg .cntdot. min in a progressive treadmill test) was met by 69% of men and 66% of women. Blood lactate values (10.3 .+-. 3.6 mmol/l in the men, 8.1 .+-. 2.9 mmol/l in the women) distinguished significantly between those making good and fair maximal efforts, as did maximum heart rate in the men and maximum respiratory minute volume in the women. Submaximal bicycle ergometer tests showed significant habituation in the women but not in the men. Mechanical efficiency averaged 21.1% in the men and 21.8% in the women. Heart rates at a given O2 consumption were substantially higher on the bicyle ergometer than during treadmill walking. .ANG. strand predictions of aerobic power from either bicycle ergometer or treadmill data had a substantial systematic error relative to direct .ovrhdot.VO2 max [maximum .ovrhdot.VO2] although individual treadmill predictions were stable at repeat tests. Cooper 12-min walk/run tests showed a correlation with the directly measured relative .ovrhdot.VO2 max of 0.83 in the men, and 0.51 in the women. Options for the assessment of cardiorespiratory fitness in elderly subjects seem the repetition of direct measurements of aerobic power until an O2 plateau is defined, or the reporting of physiological data at a heart rate corresponding to a fixed percentage of maximum O2 intake.