Objectives. — Cardiorespiratory function is negatively affected by aging while being, to a great extent, depends on exercise intensity and mode. Here we investigated the effects of age and exercise mode on cardiorespiratory function across ages among healthy men. Equipment and methods. — Thirty-six men were divided into three groups of 12: children, middle-aged, and elderly. Participants performed either a leg or an arm ergometry test. Cardiorespiratory function (forced vital capacity, FVC; forced expiratory volume in one second, FEV1; rate-pressure product, RPP) was assessed before and after each test. Results. — FVC values were significantly lower for arm as compared to leg ergometry (P < 0.001). Children showed significantly lower FVC and FEV1 values relative to middle-aged and elderly groups (P < 0.001). FVC and FEV1 values were also lower in elderly as compared to middleaged (P < 0.001). Post-exercise RPP values were significantly greater in leg than arm ergometry (P < 0.001). Conclusions. — Our findings showed that aging has an undesirable impact on respiratory function. Our findings also suggest that exercise utilizing larger muscle groups (i.e., leg exercise) may pose a greater working load on some selected variables of cardiorespiratory function than exercise modality utilizing smaller muscle groups (i.e., arm exercise) in apparently healthy men, regardless of age.
