Physiological factors affecting upper body aerobic exercise

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Abstract
This study examined the influence selected physiological measurements have upon peak oxygen uptake (peak [Vdot]O2) elicited by upper body (arm crank) exercise employing crank rates of 30 and 70 r.p.m. Nine male volunteers completed: two maximal effort arm crank tests, one cycle exercise maximal aerobic power (AP) test, measurements of isokinetic elbow extension strength (ES), isometric grip strength (GS) and arm volume (AV). Partial correlation coefficients (R) were obtained from a multiple regression analysis. For the 30 r.p.m. protocol, peak [Vdot]O2 was strongly related to AP (r=0·80; R = 0·51) and moderately related to ES (r=−0·41; R =−0·41) and GS (r=0·40; R = 0·30). For the 70 r.p.m. protocol, peak [Vdot]O2 was found to be strongly related to AP (r=0·94; R=0·88). AV values were not found to have a marked influence on upper body peak [Vdot]O2 at either crank rate. These data indicate that aerobic power for cycle exercise is the most important determinant of upper body aerobic exercise performance.