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Abstract

Individuals that are physically active have greater cardiorespiratory fitness and skeletal muscle strength than those that are physically inactive. Although VO2maxis commonly used to estimate cardiorespiratory fitness, in older adults, leg strength may also influence VO2max. The PURPOSE of this study is to examine the relationship between VO2max and leg strength in physically active vs. physically inactive older adults. METHODS: Twenty-four older adults (12 physically active (PA; 62.1±5.0 yrs), 12 physically inactive (PI; 63.9±5.1 yrs)) performed a two-stage treadmill test to estimate VO2max. Leg strength was assessed by 8-repitition maximum (8RM) tests of leg curl, leg press, calf raise, and leg extension. Correlations between VO2max and leg strength were assessed and reported significant if pRESULTS: PA participants had a higher leg press 8RM (p=0.02), leg curl 8RM (p=0.003), calf raise (0.004), leg extension (p=0.01), than PI participants. In the PA participants, there was a correlation between estimated VO2max and leg curl (R2=0.34; p=0.049), calf raise (R2=0.41; p=0.03), and leg extension (R2=0.40; p=0.03). In the PI participants, there was no correlation between estimated VO2max and all leg strength measure (p≥0.05). CONCLUSION: These data show that there is a positive relationship in PA older adults between the estimated VO2max and leg curl, leg extension and calf raise 8RM.

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