EFFECT OF AN AEROBIC TRAINING-PROGRAM ON PHYSICAL WORKING CAPACITY ATHEART-RATE THRESHOLD

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the effect of an ae robic training program on physical working capacity at the heart rate threshold (PWCHRT) A total of 19 subjects volunteered for this investi gation. The control group (CG) consisted of three females and four mal es, while the training group (TG) included four females and eight male s. All subjects were pretested and posttested for maximal oxygen consu mption rate(V over dot O-2max) and PWCHRT. The training consisted of r iding a cycle ergometer for 30 min at 85% of maximal heart rate (HR) t hree times per week for 8 weeks. Two univariate (V over dot O-2max and PWCHRT) 2 x 2 mixed factorial analyses of variance [group (CC, TG) x time (pretraining, posttraining)] were used to analyze the data. A sig nificant (P < 0.05) group by time interaction for PWCHRT was followed by paired t-tests to analyze the simple main effects. The PWCHRT for t he TG increased significantly (P < 0.05) as a result of the training p rogram, whereas no change occurred for the CG. The V over dot(2max) di d not change significantly for either the TG or the CG. The results of this investigation demonstrate that PWCHRT was sensitive to the effec ts of an 8-week aerobic training program.