Korean J Prev Med.  1984 Sep;17(1):289-294.

Evaluation of Energy Cost in Terms of Oxygen Uptake by Measuring Heart Rate During Tennis Games

• Cho BH
• Chung KC
• Hong YP

Abstract

The energy expended while playing tennis was determined from the players heart rate and from the amount of oxygen they consumed. This study was made using eight healthy but unathletic male college students. Expired air was collected for 2 minute periods during each game by the Douglas bag method. Samples were collected when serving and receiving. The air collected was measured using a wet test gas meter. The amount of air collected was expressed in STPD. Oxygen consumption was determined by measuring the oxygen content of the expired air with a Orzat gas analyzer. The energy expended during the tennis games was calculated indirectly. The caloric coefficient of oxygen was multiplied by the volume of oxygen consumed. The caloric coefficient of oxygen varied from 4.6 to 5.1 kcal/liter of oxygen. In this study the value of 5 kcal/liter of oxygen was used in the calculations. The accuracy of the measurements of energy expended was tested using regression analysis of the measured volume of oxygen. The mean values of heart rate, oxygen consumed and energy expended did not vary when the activity of serving and receiving was compared. The mean value of oxygen consumed during play was 1.4329+/-282 ml/min or 21.6+/-4.0 ml/kg/min. The energy expended was 7.15+/-1.46 kcal/min or 6.45+/-1.23 kcal/kg/min. The values were equivalent to 5.5 mets. When the levels of oxygen consumed were estimated using the formulas, they were found to be higher than the measured levels. The estimated amounts, however, were within 25% of the measured amounts.

MeSH Terms

Heart Rate*
Heart*
Humans
Male
Oxygen Consumption
Oxygen*
Tennis*
Oxygen