Comparison Of Recovery Measures Following Cardiorespiratory Fitness Testing In Young Children

Abstract

Post exercise heart rate recovery measures have been used as a predictor of fitness and morality in adult populations. Less is known about the predictive value of oxygen consumption and heart recovery responses to clinical and field cardiorespiratory fitness testing in young children. PURPOSE: To compare oxygen uptake (VO2; ml·kg-1·min-1) and heart rate (HR; beats·min-1) recovery responses (mean ± SD) from the FitnessGram Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER) test to recovery measures from a progressive maximal graded exercise test (GXT; treadmill) in 17 (9 boys) young (10-11 yr old) children. METHODS: Subjects completed the PACER and GXT in a randomized order 1 week apart while wearing a HR monitor and portable oxygen analyzer. VO2 and HR recovery measures were determined at 1, 3 and 5 mins post completion of the PACER and GXT. RESULTS: There were no significant mean VO2 measures between the PACER and GXT VO2 at 1 min (14.5 ± 3.1 vs 16.1 ± 3.6), 3 min (8.0 ± 1.4 vs 7.9±1.3), or 5 min (7.3 ± 1.4 vs 7.2 ± 1.6) of recovery. The GXT recovery HR (149.0 ± 31.0) recovery was significantly (p <0.05) greater at 1 minute than the PACER recovery HR (136.0 ± 17.0), however there was no significance between the GXT and PACER HR at 3 min (115.2 ± 9.1 vs 110.8 ± 11.7) or at 5 min (108.5 ± 7.7 vs 107.1 ± 10.0) of recovery. CONCLUSIONS: The PACER resulted in similar absolute cardiorespiratory recovery responses in young children when compared with a criterion fitness test. Supported by the University of Kentucky Pediatric Exercise Physiology Laboratory Endowment