ABSTRACT
Introduction:
Children are always involved in physical activities and team sports. Thus, studies that combine phy-sical performance and cardiorespiratory fitness are necessary to encourage and implement health promotion actions.
Objective:
To evaluate the response of physical performance and cardiorespiratory indicators in the spontaneous inter-ruption of a maximum progressive test in children.
Method:
Prospective, analytical, observational and cross-sectional study. One hundred and six children with a mean age of 10.2 ± 1.1 years participated in the study. Weight and height were obtained to determine the body mass index and the cardiorespiratory fitness was evaluated by the maximum progressive Léger test. The observed variables were heart rate, respiratory rate, peak forced expiratory flow, maximum oxygen volume, and abdominal muscle strength. The children were divided according to their performance in the maximum progressive test, a group achieving up to 280 meters and a group achieving over 280 meters.
Result:
The mean value of body mass index was 17.8 kg/m2 and the maximum oxygen volume was 40.5 mlO2/kg-1.min-1. The group that reached the greater distance in the maximum progressive test had a lower body mass index (p=0.002), a higher speed (p=0.000), a longer time in the physical effort (p=0.000), higher maximum oxygen volume (p=0.000), and a greater abdominal muscle strength (p=0.007). The variables heart rate, respiratory rate and peak flow had values expected for age with no difference between groups. The group that reached the greater distance had a correlation with speed (r=0.950, p<0.000) and with oxygen volume (r=0.740, p<0.000). In contrast, the shorter distance group had a higher correlation with body mass index (r=-0.475, p=0.000) and respiratory rate (r=0.585, p<0.674).
Conclusion:
Children with a lower body mass presented better performance in the maximum progressive test, and girls stood out for the greater time of physical effort without increasing the maximum oxygen uptake.
Keywords:
cardiovascular system; respiratory system; child; exercise test