Relationships of aerobic capacity and percent body fat with plasma free fatty acid following walking

We investigated relationships of peak V̇o2 and percent body fat with postexercise plasma free fatty acid (FFA) and glycerol concentrations in 14 men using multiple-regression techniques. During 1 h of walking (36% of peak V̇o2), no significant differences in plasma-FFA response were attributed to either peak V̇o2 or percent body fat. However, individuals with higher peak V̇o2s tended to have greater elevations in plasma-glycerol concentration during exercise (p = 0.074). They also had greater peak FFA concentrations and FFA · glycerol−1-molar ratios immediately after exercise and faster subsequent clearing of excess FFA from the blood (p < 0.05). Percent fat was not related to postexercise plasma glycerol, FFA, FFA · glycerol−1 responses. Differing postexercise FFA responses, as related to peak V̇o2, were due, not to varying rates of lipolysis but rather to different rates of FFA mobilization and utilization.