PHYSICAL WORK CAPACITY OF YOUNG GIRLS 7-13 YEARS OF AGE

The physical work capacities of 62 girls, of a progressively loaded, step-increment test on a bicycle ergometer. In analyzing the data from each of the recorded measurements with respect to the subject''s age and working capacity (total work performed), maximal heart rate was found to be independent of both of these. Submaximal heart rates, maximal ventilation, submaximal oxygen intakes (ml/kg per min), and maximal oxygen intake (liters/ min) were all found to be either directly or inversely related to both age and work capacity. The actual values obtained from each of the parameters measured in this study were similar to those previously reported for boys of approximately the same ages. This suggested that within these ages there are essentially no basic differences between the sexes in their physiological responses to maximal exercise. Both the maximal and submacimal responses to the work capacity test, for all of the variables measured, were found to have low correlations with maximal oxygen intake. Thus, the validity of using these variables in the prediction of maximal oxygen intake is questionable for girls of these ages.