How Gender Influences VO2 Max

How Gender Influences VO2 Max

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How Gender Influences VO2 Max

Aerobic fitness is the ability of the body to provide muscles with oxygen enabling a person to work through an activity. The lungs carry oxygen from the air and push it into the bloodstream. Blood and heart vessels deliver oxygen into the muscles and skeletal muscles put the oxygen to use to produce work. Cardiovascular assessments are a great tool for measuring the efficiency of such physiological functions. Tests used to measure VO2 mx assess maximum oxygen amounts that a person can take in at maximum exertion. VO2 max signals endurance for sports like long-distance running, triathlons, and skiing. VO2 max can enhance or limit performance even with optimal training. Both external and internal factors affect VO2 max.

Gender influences VO2 max, seeing that women tend to have a lower VO2 max than their male counterparts. This is the case because of physiology. The amount of blood that the heart pumps partially determines VO2 max. VO2 max is the measure of oxygen consumed during an exercise. Most female athletes tend to have higher VO2 max than their male counterparts. Due to the differences in composition, body size, hemoglobin content, and blood volume, the VO2 max for women is generally 20% lower than that of men (Putra, Arsyad, Huldani, Achmad, Sukmana, Adiputro, & Kasab, 2020). Pumping of the blood is a function determined by the types of fibers that make the heart muscles, the size of the heart, and the length of the stroke. Men that are generally big than women tend to have bigger hearts that pump more blood. Additionally, men also have lungs that are bigger than those belonging to women hence they take in more oxygen than women.

In closing, there are many factors that influence VO2 max and gender is one of them. In general, V02 max is lower in women than in males. Women’s VO2 max is about 20% less than that of a man.

References

Putra, A. P., Arsyad, A., Huldani, H., Achmad, H., Sukmana, B. I., Adiputro, D. L., & Kasab, J. (2020). Differences in VO2 max based on age, gender, hemoglobin levels, and leukocyte counts in Hajj prospective pilgrims in Hulu Sungai Tengah Regency, South Kalimantan. Differences in VO2 Max Based on Age, Gender, Hemoglobin Levels, and Leukocyte Counts in Hajj Prospective Pilgrims in Hulu Sungai Tengah Regency, South Kalimantan, 09-14.