Nevill A M, Markovic G, Vucetic V, Holder R
University of Wolverhampton, Research Institute of Health Sciences, Walsall Campus, Gorway Road, Walsall WS1 3BD, UK.
Ann Hum Biol. 2004 Jul-Aug;31(4):436-45. doi: 10.1080/03014460410001723996.
The power function relationship, MR = a.m(b), between metabolic rate (MR) and body mass m has been the source of much controversy amongst biologists for many years. Various studies have reported mass exponents (b) greater than the anticipated 'surface-area' exponent 0.67, often closer to 0.75 originally identified by Kleiber.
The study aimed to provide a biological explanation for these 'inflated' exponents when modelling maximum oxygen uptake (max), based on the observations from this and previous studies that larger individuals develop disproportionately more muscle mass in the arms and legs.
A cross-sectional study of 119 professional soccer players from Croatia aged 18-34 was carried out.
Here we confirm that the power function relationship between max and body mass of the professional soccer players results in an 'inflated' mass exponent of 0.75 (95% confidence interval from 0.56 to 0.93), but also the larger soccer players have disproportionately greater leg muscle girths. When the analysis was repeated incorporating the calf and thigh muscle girths rather than body mass as predictor variables, the analysis not only explained significantly more of the variance in max, but the sum of the exponents confirmed a surface-area law.
These findings confirm the pitfalls of fitting body-mass power laws and suggest using muscle-girth methodology as a more appropriate way to scale or normalize metabolic variables such as max for individuals of different body sizes.
代谢率（MR）与体重m之间的幂函数关系MR = a·m(b)，多年来一直是生物学家们诸多争议的源头。各种研究报告的质量指数（b）大于预期的“表面积”指数0.67，通常更接近最初由克莱伯确定的0.75。
本研究旨在基于本研究及先前研究的观察结果，即体型较大的个体在手臂和腿部发育出不成比例的更多肌肉量，为在对最大摄氧量（max）进行建模时这些“膨胀”的指数提供生物学解释。
对119名年龄在18 - 34岁的克罗地亚职业足球运动员进行了横断面研究。
我们在此证实，职业足球运动员的max与体重之间的幂函数关系导致质量指数“膨胀”至0.75（95%置信区间为0.56至0.93），而且体型较大的足球运动员腿部肌肉周长也不成比例地更大。当将小腿和大腿肌肉周长而非体重作为预测变量重复进行分析时，该分析不仅显著解释了max中更多的方差，而且指数之和证实了表面积定律。
这些发现证实了拟合体重幂定律的缺陷，并建议使用肌肉周长方法作为一种更合适的方式来对不同体型个体的代谢变量（如max）进行缩放或归一化。
