Anaerobic threshold during arm and leg exercises and cardiorespiratory fitness tests in a group of male and female students.

The anaerobic threshold (AT) was determined in 19 female and 41 male physical education students (mean age 19 yrs) during incremental arm and leg exercise on a bicycle ergometer. After the first 4 min of zero load leg exercise, the work load was increased every minute by 30 W in the male group and by 15 W in the female group. During arm exercise the work increments were 15 W in the male and 10 W in the female subjects. The work was performed until exhaustion. The AT values determined from the nonlinear increase in pulmonary ventilation (VE) were 62.6 +/- 7.3 W and 109.3 +/- 17.4 W during arm exercise 136.6 +/- 22.8 W and 224.6 +/- 41.96 W during leg exercise in female and male subjects, respectively. The VE at AT for both types of exercise was more significant in the female than in the male group. It was also lower during arm than during leg exercise in both groups. The AT during leg exercise showed a high positive correlation with vital capacity (VC) (r = 0.52, P less than 0.001), maximal oxygen uptake (r = 0.38, P less than 0.05), PWC170 (r = 0.44, P less than 0.01), and heart rate at AT (r = 0.62, P less than 0.001) in the male group, and only with heart rate at AT (r = 0.52, P less than 0.05) in the female group. Similar correlations were obtained during arm exercise. It is suggested that the AT could be determined by monitoring the VE changes during progressive exercise and could serve as an index of cardiorespiratory performance capacity in young female and male subjects.