Howden, E. J., Carrick-Ranson, G., Fujimoto, N., Hastings, J. L., Bhella, P. S., Gandhi, N., Shibata, S., Boyd, K., Palmer, D., & Levine, B. D. (2013). The effect of lifelong training on fitness, blood volume and left ventricular morphology: impact of gender. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 45(5), Supplement abstract number 386.

This study compared the effect of lifelong (>20 yrs) training on aerobic capacity, total blood volume, and left-ventricular morphology in healthy men (N = 70) and women (N = 35). Ss were carefully screened before measures of VO2max, total blood volume, and left-ventricular mass and volume were collected. Ss were grouped based on reported exercise habits as sedentary (<2 sessions per week), recreational exercisers (2-5 sessions per week) or masters athletes (>6 sessions per week and competitions).

Irrespective of gender, VO2max increased with training. Similarly, indexed total blood volume, indexed left-ventricular mass and left-ventricular end-diastolic volume also increased in a dose-dependent manner. However, left-ventricular mass/volume ratio was unaffected by training. For all variables, males had higher values compared to females.

Implication. Regardless of gender, maximal aerobic capacity, total blood volume, and left-ventricular mass and volume increase in a dose-dependent manner with lifelong training, further highlighting the beneficial effects of habitual exercise training in both genders.

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