The cardiopulmonary capacities of young hockey players: age 10.

The cardiopulmonary capacities of 15 selected 10 year old ice hockey players were determined during a discontinuous steady-state bicycle ergometer test. During the test, heart rates, minute ventilation and oxygen uptake were monitored and the peak values at maximal capacity were recorded. Blood was collected from the median cubital vein after each maximal exercise for lactate analysis. These boys represented a select group of highly successful young hockey players. They had been involved in organized hockey for a mean of 4.4 years, 2.9 of which had been spent in a competitive league. The team has ranked 3rd in the Ontario Championships. The maximal oxygen uptake was 56.6 ml/kg-min, a value much higher than reported for healthy inactive boys and close to values reported for young athletes in other sports. Mean maximal minute ventilation reached 64.5 l/min (1.84 l/kg-min). The tests on these athletes were carried out on two separate occasions, 48 hours apart. The test-retest correlations for VO2 max was high (r = 0.81). Only the reliability of the lactate determinations was low (r = 0.24). None of the differences between the mean values for the measurements made at the first and second exercise tests were significant.