Responses of maximal aerobic power and capacity to aerobic training

The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the individual differences and the specificity in the response of maximal aerobic power (MAP) and capacity (MAC) to a 20-week aerobic training program. Twenty-four subjects (25 +/- 4 years), ascertained as sedentary, including 13 women and 11 men, participated in this study. MAP was determined with a progressive maximal ergocycle test, while MAC was computed as the total work output accomplished during a 90-min maximal ergocycle test. A modified bicycle ergometer allowed the exact measurement of the distance and the load for the computation of the work performed during MAC. The aerobic training program enhanced mean MAP/kg and MAC/kg by 33% and 51%, respectively. Although MAP/kg response to training was similar in both sexes, there was a sex difference in the response of MAC/kg, men improving 50% more than women. Individual differences in the response to the standardized training program were considerable with training gains ranging from 5% to 88% for MAP/kg and from 16% to 97% for MAC/kg. Correlations between training increments in MAP/kg with those in MAC/kg were rather low ranging from 0.28 to 0.44. These results indicate that there is a sex difference in the trainability of aerobic capacity, but not of maximal aerobic power, under the same 20-week aerobic training program. Moreover, large individual differences in the response to similar aerobic training are observed in sedentary persons, suggesting that certain genotypes are more sensitive to training than others. Finally, there is a high level of specificity in the response to training of the power and of the capacity of the aerobic energy metabolism.