| Abstract: | The present study examines the possibility that the reduced activity commonly found in obese individuals could stem from a reduced physiological responsiveness to exercise. Responses to bicycle ergometer exercise (300 kpm/min) of four obese and four normal weight women were observed in a metabolic ward. This resulted in decreases in exercise heart rate and oxygen consumption, indicating an improvement in mechanical efficiency and suggesting an increase in physical working capacity. It also resulted in some decreases of resting oral temperature. The differences in the response to exercise between the obese and the normal weight groups were small and not statistically significant. The normal weight subjects showed a trend for greater decreases in heart rate and O2 consumption during exercise, while in the obese resting oral temperature tended to be more reduced. The results suggest that obesity in our subjects was not related to a deranged physiological response to physical activity. |
