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Guidelines Developed for Women’s Exercise Levels
For first time, researchers have established how much exercise women should be able to do for their age and found that their capacity is slightly lower than men's. It also declines a bit faster than men’s as they grow older. Women whose exercise capacity was less than 85 percent of what it should be were twice as likely to die within eight years, the researchers found.
Until now, the only guidelines available were based on men and it wasn't certain whether they applied to women as well. As more women are being included in medical research, gender differences in some diseases and other health issues are emerging as significant findings.
The researchers found gender differences in fitness level capacity. They used the results of 5,721 exercise stress tests on women over 35 to determine a normal and compared this baseline to established fitness levels for men.
While fitness declines with age for everyone, the research showed the difference between men and women becomes more pronounced with age. Women lose about 1 percent of their exercise capacity per year, the study found.
Treadmill stress tests are routinely used to diagnose heart disease, often after someone complains of symptoms such as chest pains or shortness of breath. The heart's activity is monitored while the person walks on the treadmill.
The 5,721 Chicago area women who took the treadmill test in 1992 didn't have any symptoms or history of heart problems. They were given a standard stress test with a speed and incline increase of the treadmill every three minutes until they became fatigued or had other problems.
Their exercise capacity was estimated in metabolic equivalents (METs), based on the speed and grade of the treadmill. One MET is the amount of energy or oxygen used to sit quietly for a minute. Moderate walking burns 3 to 6 METs per minute; running consumes more than 6 METs.
Using data from the volunteers, the researchers came up with a formula to determine a normal fitness level for women. A 50-year-old woman, for example, should be able to reach 8.2 METs. For a 50-year-old man, the predicted exercise capacity is 9.2 METs, based on a different equation. Although stress tests are relatively inexpensive, it isn't necessary to have one to find out what MET level you are achieving. Exercise machines at health clubs do the calculation automatically.
Patients should discuss with their physicians before starting or stopping any exercise program.
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