Effect of Training on Work Capacity, Total Hemoglobin, Blood Volume, Heart Volume and Pulse Rate in Recumbent and Upright Positions¹

Abstract

Abstract H olmgren , A., F. M ossfeldt , T. S jötrand and G. S tröm . Effect of training on work capacib, total hemoglobin, blood volume, heart volume and pulse rate in recumbent and upright positions. The effect of training, either with gymnastic exercises and running once or twice a week for several months, or with daily skiing in mountainous terrain for eight to ten days, has been studied on altogether 87 test subjects. Determinations were made of work capacity, expressed as work on a bicycle ergometer at a pulse rate of 170 and at relative steady state (PWC 170 S ), total amount of hemoglobin (THb) and blood volume, heart volume in recumbent position, and pulse rate at rest in recumbent and upright positions. The intermittent long‐term training was found to cause an increase in PWC 170 S , THb and blood volume, and a decrease in pulse rate in recumbent position. The heart volume showed an insignificant average increase in two subjects groups, and decreased slightly in a group of middle‐aged men. The relation between PWC 170 S and THb or blood volume corresponded, both before and after the training, to the relationship earlier demonstrated in a series of individuals differing with respect to age, body size, sex and degree of physical training. The continuous short‐term training was also found to induce an average increase in the PWC 170 S , blood volume and THb, and a decrease