Relationship between mean habitual daily energy expenditure and maximal oxygen uptake

A population of 120 healthy voluntary subjects of both genders aged 16-88 was studied using the QAPSE (Saint-Etienne Physical Activity Questionnaire) with the purpose of investigating the factors influencing the relation between MHDEE (mean habitual daily energy expenditure) and VO2max (maximal oxygen uptake) to elucidate the factors accounting for individual variation. The mean of MHDEE obtained was 12,181.9 +/- 4041.9 kJ.d-1. The mean VO2max obtained was 39.9 +/- 13.8 ml.kg-1.min-1. A strong relationship between MHDEE and VO2max (r = 0.916; N = 120; P < 0.0001) was found. Further, MHDEE seemed to be the greater determinant in the variation of VO2max (89.35%). Other variables were found to be involved in the relation between MHDEE and VO2max for a smaller, but still substantial part: age (6.92%), PAST (exathletes who had considerably reduced or stopped their training) (2.45%), body mass (0.85%), and gender (0.43%). Two variables regarding maximal intensity of activity were not included in the multiple-linear regression analysis. These results suggested that the most important factor in the variation of VO2max is the total quantity of energy expenditure and not only the maximal intensity that could reach the subject.