AEROBIC RESPONSE TO ENDURANCE EXERCISE TRAINING IN CHILDREN

Objective. To investigate the ability of children to improve aerobic f itness, as indicated by changes in maximal oxygen uptake (VO(2)max), a fter a 12-week period of endurance training. o Design. Longitudinal pr ospective training with control period. Setting. Middle school physica l education class. Subjects. Twenty-four girls and 13 boys, ages 10.9 to 12.8 years. Intervention. Three 30-minute sessions of aerobic activ ity weekly for 12 weeks at an intensity-producing a mean heart rate of 166 beats per minute. Maximal treadmill testing was performed 12 week s before the training program and again at the start and end because e ach child served as his/her own control. Results. Mean VO,max did not change significantly during the control period but rose from 44.7 (5.8 ) to 47.6 (6.4) mt kg(-1)min(-1) (6.5%) with training (P < .05). No di fferences in training response were observed relative to sex, pretrain ing VO(2)max, or sports participation. Conclusion. These findings supp ort the concept that VO(2)max can be improved with endurance training during the childhood years, but the degree of aerobic trainability is limited in healthy, active children.