title: Respiratory gas exchange and physiological demands during a fire fighter evaluation circuit in men and women.
abstract: We examined the oxygen uptake (VO2) and carbon dioxide output (VCO2) during completion of a circuit developed for testing fire fighters and related performance time to laboratory measures of fitness. Twenty-two healthy university students (ten women) were trained in the tasks then performed the circuit as quickly as possible. Breath-by-breath gas exchange and heart rate were continuously measured with a portable system. Median circuit time was 6:13 (min:s, 25-75% = 5:46-6:42) for men and 7:25 (25-75% = 6:49-10:21) for 8 women finishers (P = 0.023), and VO2 averaged 68 and 64% VO2max for the men and women during the circuit. Both men and women had high respiratory exchange ratios (>1.0) suggesting marked anaerobic energy contribution. Physiological variables associated with circuit time were assessed by backward stepwise regression yielding a significant model that included only peak work rate during arm cranking exercise as a function of circuit completion time across men and women combined (P < 0.001). For men, but especially for women, the time required for the simulated victim drag (68.2 kg mannequin) was positively correlated with total time to complete the other circuit elements (r = 0.51, r = 0.96 respectively). The simple correlation between circuit time and VO2max (mL/kg/min) revealed poor relationships for men (r = -0.37, P > 0.05) and women (r = 0.20, P > 0.05). These data demonstrated that upper body fitness as reflected by peak work rate during arm cranking correlated with total circuit time for the men and women in our population sample.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada N2L 3G1.
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Harvey
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Kraemer
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Sharratt
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Hughson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005390:Fires; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D016272:Occupational Health; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology*; D010807:Physical Endurance / Q000502:physiology; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011659:Pulmonary Gas Exchange / Q000502:physiology*; D012044:Regression Analysis