[Age-related changes of PWC 170 (physical working capacity 170) in the course of a 4-week training program at a...

The physical working capacity 170 (PWC 170) exhibits a characteristic age-dependent course: With advancing age the values increase, although the physical performance capacity decreases. This reaction points to a slow responding heart rate in elderly individuals. After a four weeks treatment in a rehabilitation center combined with a high level of physical activity there was a decline of the PWC 170 in middle-aged persons. These results show that regular exercise generates a pronounced acceleration of the heart rate; this adaptive functional situation leads to a fast adjustment of the heart rate to the actual level of the load. In untrained elderly individuals the PWC 170 is no reliable parameter to indicate the physical performance capacity and the cardiac adaptation.