Relationships among Physical Activity, Peak Oxygen Uptake in Exercise Stress Testing, and Heart Rate Recovery after Exercise

Abstract

[Purpose] To clarify the influence of the physical activity level on exercise tolerability and heart rate recovery (HRR) after exercise. [Participants and Methods] Eighteen healthy students put on a physical activity meter to measure their amount of exercise and number of steps as physical activity parameters. They also underwent an exercise stress test to measure their peak oxygen uptake (peakVO₂/kg) and recovery heart rate at intervals of 1 minute until 5 minutes after exercise to analyze the correlations between these values and the amount of exercise/number of steps. [Results] There were no correlations between the physical activity parameters and peakVO₂/kg. The amount of exercise was not correlated with HRR, but the number of steps was correlated with it. [Conclusion] The physical activity level may not influence exercise tolerability. Among the physical activity parameters, the amount of exercise representing exercise intensity may not influence HRR, whereas the number of steps not representing such intensity may influence it.