Relationships Between Cardiometabolic Risk Factors And Aerobic Fitness: A Fresh Look

The measurement of maximal oxygen uptake (VO₂max) is commonly used to describe aerobic fitness/power. In youth, VO₂max has been scaled per kilogramme body mass (mL·kg⁻¹), per kilogramme fat free mass (mL·kgFFM⁻¹), or allometrically scaled (mL·kg⁰·⁶⁷⁻⁰·⁷⁵). Studies, summarized by McMurray and Andersen (2010), have shown a relationship between VO₂max and cardiometabolic risk factors (CMRF), including blood pressure, blood levels of total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, or triglycerides, and insulin resistance. The majority of these studies have scaled VO₂max per kilogramme body mass. Body mass can be compartmentalized into fat free mass (FFM), which contains the metabolically active tissue, and fat mass, which contributes to energy demand, but not energy production. Furthermore, fat mass is independently related to the CMRF; thus, scaling VO₂max per kilogramme body mass may be confounding metabolic capacity and fatness.