EFFECTS OF AGE AND TIME OF DAY ON PREFERRED WORK RATES DURING PROLONGED EXERCISE

This study was designed to examine the effects of age and time of day on work rates during prolonged, self-paced exercise. Eight young (19-2 5 years of age) and eight old (48-62 years of age) endurance athletes volunteered for the study. At two times of day (07:00 and 17:00 h), su bjects were asked to pedal on a Monark cycle ergometer (Varberg, Swede n) at a self-chosen exercise intensity that they believed they could s ustain for exactly 80 min. This self-chosen work rate rectal temperatu re, skin temperature (chest, arm, and lower leg), oxygen consumption ( VO2), expired carbon dioxide (VCO2), minute ventilation (VE), heart ra te, and perceived exertion (RPE) were recorded every 10 min during the exercise. Preexercise resting measures of rectal temperature, VO2 and VE were less affected by time of day in the older group than were tho se in the young subjects (p < 0.05). In the morning, rectal temperatur e was 0.3 degrees C higher in the older subjects than in the young adu lts. Diurnal variation in mean work rate over the 80-min exercise peri od was not evident in the old group (p > 0.10) but amounted to 10 W in the young group (p < 0.05). Older subjects chose work rates 5.4 W low er than did the young subjects in the morning test session (p > 0.10). In the afternoon, age differences in work rate amounted to 14.3 W (p < 0.05). For all subjects, work rates remained relatively constant thr oughout the exercise period in the morning. In the afternoon, subjects chose high work rates within the first 40 min of exercise, after whic h work rate decreased sharply to values similar to those recorded in t he morning (p < 0.01). These changes were mirrored closely by changes in (VO2) and VCO2. Perceived exertion increased linearly throughout ex ercise, irrespective of age or time of day. These results suggest that , in young adults, the mean work rate over 80 min of exercise is highe r in the afternoon than in the morning, although the work rate decreas ed sharply toward the end of afternoon exercise. In agreement with stu dies reporting age-related increases in ''morningness:'' age differenc es in work rate appeared to be least when exercise was performed in th e morning.