5. As noted in this chapter, the V o,max of people tends to decline after age 30

Question

5. As noted in this chapter, the V o,max of people tends to decline after age 30 by about 9% per decade for sedentary individuals, but it declines less than 5% per decade for people who stay active. The average V o,max in healthy 30-year-olds is about 3.1 L/min. Using the information given here, what would the average V o2max be in 60-year-olds who have been sedentary throughout their lives and in 60-year-olds who have stayed active (keep in mind that the decline is exponential)? Consider the activities in Table 9.1, and recall from Chapter 7 that 1 kJ is equivalent to about 0.05 L of O2 in aerobic catabolism. How would you expect sedentary and active people to differ in their capacities for each of those activities in old age? Explain.

Explanation / Answer

Given:

Decline of V02max-sedentary individuals:>30 years every 10 years 9%

Decline of Vo2max -active individuals:>30 years every 10 years 5%

Average V02 max in healthy individuals at age 30 years is 3.1L/min

What would be Vo2max in 60 years sedentary individuals and 60 years active individuals?

By calculating; 60 years sedentary individual will have a Vo2max of 2.31L/min and an active 60 year old will have a Vo2max of 2.66L/min

1Kj=0.05Lof O2

Therefore, looking at the calculation abaove, we can summarise that older people will not be able to perform very vigorous exercises as they were doing during 30 years of age. More speifically, active 60 year old individuals will have much more stamina for exercise than sedentary individuals by 33%.

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