Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Availability

Open Access Thesis

Keywords

Triathletes--Physiology; Sports--Physiological aspects; Teenage athletes--Physiology; Women athletes--Physiology; Male athletes--Physiology; Academic theses;

Abstract

The major purpose of this thesis was to determine if there are gender differences in maximal aerobic capacity (V02 max) in trained elite junior triathletes. The study analyzed V02 max data on a treadmill and cycle ergometer to determine potential differences in V02 max. A secondary purpose was to determine if significant differences existed in V02max when determined on a treadmill and cycle ergometer. Previous research has identified males have significantly greater V02 max values compared to females for both absolute (ml°min-1) and relative (ml°kg-1min-1) units. Little information is available on whether or not the gender difference in V02 max exists in trained triathletes between the ages of 12 and 18 years old. This paper addresses this inconsistency in literature. Fifteen junior triathletes (9 female, 6 male) 12-18 years old performed maximal treadmill and cycle ergometer tests to exhaustion. The males had significantly higher V02 max values in both ml°min-1(p < 0.001) and ml°kg-1min-1(p = 0.004) on both the treadmill and cycle ergometer. The males had significantly greater weight (p = 0.003) and lower body fat percentage (p < 0.0001 ). The males had significantly higher V02 max values on the treadmill for ml°min-1 (p=.007) and ml°kg-1min-1(p=.003) V02 max. These results suggest that gender differences in V02 max in trained junior triathletes may occur via greater efficiency and physiological abilities of males. Treadmill V02 max was also found to produce significantly greater V02 max values compared to a cycle ergometer in both ml°min-1and ml°kg-1min-1

Year of Submission

2012

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

School of Health, Physical Education, and Leisure Services

First Advisor

Forrest Dolgener

Second Advisor

Kevin Finn

Third Advisor

Jennifer Waldron

Comments

If you are the rightful copyright holder of this thesis and wish to have it removed from the Open Access Collection, please submit a request to scholarworks@uni.edu and include clear identification of the work, preferably with URL.

Date Original

2012

Object Description

1 PDF file (54 leaves)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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