The Effects of Physical Fitness and Body Composition on Oxygen Consumption and Heart Rate Recovery After High-Intensity Exercise.

International Journal of Sports Medicine, 2012

Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate the potential relationship between excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), heart rate recovery (HRR) and their respective time constants (tvo2 and t HR) and body composition and aerobic fitness (VO2max) variables after an anaerobic effort.
14 professional cyclists (age=28.4±4.8 years, height=176.0±6.7 cm, body mass=74.4±8.1 kg, VO2max=66.8±7.6 mL·kg - 1·min - 1) were recruited.
The results showed that EPOC is positively associated with % body fat (r=0.64), total body fat (r=0.73), fat-free mass (r=0.61) and lower limb fat-free mass (r=0.55) and negatively associated with HRR (r= - 0.53, p<0.05 for all).
HRR had a significant negative correlation with total body fat and % body fat (r= - 0.62, r= - 0.56 respectively, p<0.05 for all).
Even in short-term exercise, the major metabolic disturbance due to higher muscle mass and total muscle mass may increase EPOC.
However, body fat impedes HRR and delays recovery of oxygen consumption after effort in highly trained athletes.
PMID: 22706939 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] Full Text Sources
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