Recreational exercise participation and aerobic fitness in men and women: Analysis of data from a national survey

Abstract

We compared the relationship between predicted VO₂ max (ml kg^‐1min^‐1) and recreational exercise patterns, using secondary data analysis of a comprehensive national survey (18,293 subjects aged 15–69 years). Exercise participation and predicted VO₂ max data were available for about 50% of this sample (4933 females, 4738 males). As expected, VO₂ max was significantly lower in the females than in the males at any age (P < 0.0001). Age was the most significant predictor of VO₂ max (r = ‐0.71 for males, r = ‐0.73 for females). Adjusting the data for the body mass index (BMI) increased this relationship only slightly in the males (R — 0.75) and females (R = 0.79). The simultaneous inclusion of exercise participation data (intensity, duration, energy expenditure) did not increase the predictions meaningfully (R = 0.78 for the males, R = 0.81 for the females). These exercise participation parameters concomitantly accounted for only a very slight amount of the variance of VO₂ max in both the females (3.0%) and males (4.5%). To minimize the effects of age, the data were analysed using 5‐year intervals. Again, the exercise participation parameters accounted for only a small part of the variance in VO₂ max (< 10%), except in the 15‐ to 19‐year‐old males (24%). These data suggest that VO₂ max is not associated with participation in recreational exercise.