Download PDF
Int J Sports Med 2012; 33(07): 537-542
DOI: 10.1055/s-0032-1304659
Physiology & Biochemistry
© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Leg Strength is Associated with Ventilatory Efficiency in Older Women

J. U. Gonzales
1   Health, Exercise and Sport Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, United States
,
S. H. Tucker
2   Kinesiology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, United States
,
M. J. Kalasky
2   Kinesiology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, United States
,
D. N. Proctor
2   Kinesiology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, United States
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History



accepted after revision 31 January 2012

Publication Date:
12 April 2012 (online)

Also available at
    Permissions and Reprints

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to determine if leg function is associated with ventilatory efficiency during exercise in healthy older adults. 24 women and 18 men aged 60–80 years performed treadmill exercise to fatigue for calculation of ventilatory efficiency using the ratio of ventilation to carbon dioxide at the anaerobic threshold (VE/VCO2@AT). On a separate day, participants performed leg strength testing and graded single-leg knee extension exercise. The VE/VCO2@AT was higher in women than men (33±3 vs. 30±3; p=0.03). After adjustment for age and VO2max, leg strength (knee extensor isometric force) was inversely associated with VE/VCO2@AT in women (r= − 0.44, p=0.03) while no relationships were found for men. Strength-matched women and men had similar VE/VCO2@AT indicating that the correlation between leg strength and VE/VCO2@AT was strength- but not sex-specific. During knee extensor exercise, women with lower leg strength had increased VE/VCO2 slope across 0–15 W as compared to higher strength women (38±8 vs. 31±3; p<0.05), while no differences were found for men. These results find leg strength to be associated with ventilatory responses to exercise in healthy older women, a finding that might be related to lower leg strength in women than men.

Key words

aging - ventilation - sex differences - muscle strength
 

  • References

  • 1 Beaver WL, Wasserman K, Whipp BJ. A new method for detecting anaerobic threshold by gas exchange. J Appl Physiol 1986; 60: 2020-2027
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 2 Clark A, Rafferty D, Arbuthnott K. Relationship between isokinetic muscle strength and exercise capacity in chronic heart failure. Int J Cardiol 1997; 59: 145-148
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 3 Cress ME, Meyer M. Maximal voluntary and functional performance needed for independence in adults aged 65 to 97 years. Phys Ther 2003; 83: 37-48
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 4 Cruz-Jentoft AJ, Baeyens JP, Bauer JM, Boirie Y, Cederholm T, Landi F, Martin FC, Michel JP, Rolland Y, Schneider SM, Topinková E, Vandewoude M, Zamboni M. Sarcopenia: European consensus on definition and diagnosis. Age Ageing 2010; 39: 412-423
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 5 Delmonico MJ, Harris TB, Visser M, Park SW, Conroy MB, Velasquez-Mieyer P, Boudreau R, Manini TM, Nevitt M, Newman AB, Goodpaster BH. Longitudinal study of muscle strength, quality, and adipose tissue infiltration. Am J Clin Nutr 2009; 90: 1579-1585
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 6 Freedson PS, Melanson E, Sirard J. Calibration of the Computer Science and Applications, Inc. accelerometer. Med Sci Sports Exerc 1998; 30: 777-781
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 7 Habedank D, Reindl I, Vietzke G, Bauer U, Sperfeld A, Gläser S, Wernecke KD, Kleber FX. Ventilatory efficiency and exercise tolerance in 101 healthy volunteers. Eur J Appl Physiol 1998; 77: 421-426
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 8 Harriss DJ, Atkinson G. Update - Ethical standards in sport and exercise science research. Int J Sports Med 2011; 32: 819-821
    Article in Thieme ConnectPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 9 Jones NL. Clinical exercise testing. Philadelphia, PA USA: W.B. Saunders Company; 1997
    Google Scholar
  • 10 Kamen G, Knight GA. Training-related adaptations in motor unit discharge rate in young and older adults. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 2011; 59: 1334-1338
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 11 Neder JA, Nery LE, Peres C, Whipp BJ. Reference values for dynamic responses to incremental cycle ergometry in males and females aged 20 to 80. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2001; 164: 1481-1486
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 12 Newman AB, Kupelian V, Visser M, Simonsick EM, Goodpaster B, Kritchevsky SB, Tylavsky FA, Rubin SM, Harris TB. Strength, but not muscle mass, is associated with mortality in the health, aging and body composition study cohort. J Gerontol Biol Sci 2006; 61: 72-77
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 13 Ofir D, Laveneziana P, Webb KA, Lam YM, O’Donnell DE. Sex differences in the perceived intensity of breathlessness during exercise with advancing age. J Appl Physiol 2008; 104: 1583-1593
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 14 Oudiz RJ, Midde R, Hovanesyan A, Sun XG, Roveran G, Hansen JE, Wasserman K. Usefulness of right-to-left shunting and poor exercise gas exchange for predicting prognosis in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension. Am J Caridol 2010; 105: 1186-1191
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 15 Piepoli M, Clark AL, Volterrani M, Adamopoulos S, Sleight P, Coats AJS. Contribution of muscle afferents to the hemodynamic, autonomic, and ventilatory responses to exercise in patients with chronic heart failure: effects of physical training. Circ 1996; 93: 940-952
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 16 Reinhard U, Müller PH, Schmülling R-M. Determination of the anaerobic threshold by the ventilation equivalent in normal individuals. Respir 1979; 38: 36-42
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 17 Saval MA, Kerrigan DJ, Ophaug KM, Ehrman JK, Keteyian SJ. Relationship between leg muscle endurance and VE/VCO2 slope in patients with heart failure. J Cardiopulm Rehabil Prev 2010; 30: 106-110
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 18 Stevenson ET, Davy KP, Seals DR. Maximal aerobic capacity and total blood volume in highly trained middle-aged and older female endurance athletes. J Appl Physiol 1994; 77: 1691-1696
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 19 Sun X, Hansen JE, Garatachea N, Storer TW, Wasserman K. Ventilatory efficiency during exercise in healthy subjects. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2002; 166: 1443-1448
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 20 von Haehling S, Morley JE, Anker SD. An overview of sarcopenia: facts and numbers on prevalance and clinical impact. J Cachex Sarcopenia Muscle 2010; 1: 129-133
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 21 Yu F, Hedström M, Cristea A, Dalén N, Larsson L. Effects of ageing and gender on contractile properties in human skeletal muscle and single fibres. Acta Physiol 2007; 190: 229-241
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 22 Zhai Z, Murphy K, Tighe H, Wang C, Wilkins MR, Gibbs JS, Howard LS. Differences in ventilatory inefficiency between pulmonary arterial hypertension and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. Chest 2011; 140: 1284-1291
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar