Maximal Aerobic Power in Endurance Trained and Sedentary Men and Women, 10-74 Years of Age

Participation in endurance athletic activities such as running, swimming, and cycling is increasing by people of all ages. It is not unusual for very young and elderly male and female enthusiasts to train for and participate in, short and long distance endurance athletics. The primary purpose of this study was to examine changes in maximal aerobic power (VO2max) in aerobically trained and sedentary untrained men and women over the age range 10-74 yrs. This study is unique in that the data selected for analysis was randomly obtained from 39 years (1970-2009) of peer reviewed published research globally. The data set totaled 18,784 observations from 250 publications and is one of the largest data set of its type. Data was categorized into four sets: aerobically (endurance) trained men, aerobically (endurance) trained women, sedentary untrained men and sedentary untrained women. For each of the four sets, the published VO2max was grouped into five-year age periods and the mean VO2max calculated for each five-year age period over the age range 10-74 years. The information is important and unique as it provides a benchmark of VO2max data from a large global sample of endurance trained and untrained, men and women. This "living" large database may be queried for analysis providing data on for example; male and female age-related longitudinal changes in aerobic capacity over a lifespan, or differences in aerobic capacity between men and women. Importantly, it definitively proves the inappropriateness of combining male and female physiological data into one group for analysis; a practice which continues to be seen frequently seen in the scientific literature.