Comparison between Arm and Leg Exercise in Women and Men

Arm and leg work was performed on bicycle ergometers in sitting position by fourteen women and sixteen men. Heart rate, minute volume of ventilation (V˙_E), and oxygen consumption (V˙o₂) were measured. Arm exercise was performed until (muscular) exhaustion, leg exercise up to a heart rate of circa 170 beats/min. At comparable work loads arm exercise evoked higher V˙o₂, V˙_E, and heart rate than leg exercise irrespective of sex. At comparable V˙o₂, the heart rate and V˙_E were higher during arm work in both sexes, V˙_E more so among the men. With the same limbs working, the mechanical efficiency was equal in both sexes. The regression coefficients of heart rate on load or V˙o₂ was higher for the women irrespective of work type. A close correlation was obtained between working capacity at a heart rate of 170 beats/min (W₁₇₀) during leg and arm exercise and between W₁₇₀ of leg exercise and W₁₅₀, similarly calculated during arm work. Thus W₁₇₀ of leg exercise could be calculated from either a maximal or submaximal arm work.