Peak aerobic performance and left ventricular morphological characteristics in university students

Objective: To determine whether a relationship exists between left ventricu lar morphology and aerobic capacity in large numbers of male university stu dents with a physically inactive and active life style. Design: A prospective study. Setting: Sports medicine research center. Participants: Eleven sedentary normal-weight university students, 17 sedent ary overweight university students, and 215 university athletes. Main Outcome Measures: after the echocardiographic examination, an incremen tal treadmill exercise test until exhaustion was performed to measure peak oxygen uptake (VO2). Results: In sedentary students, absolute peak VO2 in the overweight student s was slightly higher than that in normal-weight students (3,024 vs. 2,912 ml/min). Relative peak VO2 (ml/min/kg) was highly negatively correlated wit h body mass index (kg/m(2)) in a total of 28 sedentary students. The correl ation between absolute peak VO2 and left ventricular dimension was weak in the sedentary overweight students; however. a correlation coefficient of 0. 55 was obtained in athletic students. A stepwise multiple regression showed significant determinants of absolute peak VO2 in athletic students for bod y surface area (45%), left ventricular dimension (7%), and certain sports ( 6%). Conclusions: A physically active Life style plays a role in increasing both aerobic capacity and left ventricular enlargement. Body size appeared to b e a potent stimulus to left ventricular enlargement.