Maximal aerobic capacity across age in healthy Hispanic and Caucasian women

1 Department of Kinesiology and Applied Physiology, University of Colorado, Boulder 80309; and 2 Divisions of Cardiology and Geriatric Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado 80262 We tested the hypothesis that the age-related decline in maximal aerobic capacity, as measured by maximal oxygen uptake ( O 2 max ), is greater in Hispanic than in Caucasian women. We studied 146 healthy sedentary women aged 20-75 yr: 53 Hispanic (primarily of Mexican descent) and 93 Caucasian (non-Hispanic white). The groups did not differ in mean age, body mass, percent body fat, estimated physical activity-related energy expenditure, or education-based socioeconomic status (SES). During maximal exercise, respiratory exchange ratio, rating of perceived exertion, and percent predicted maximal heart rate were similar across age and ethnicity, suggesting equivalent maximum voluntary efforts in all subjects. O 2 max (ml · kg 1 · min 1 ) was inversely related to age ( P