Relationships among age, body weight, resting heart rate, and performance in a new test of lift capacity.

This study measured the relative contributions of age, gender, body weight, and resting heart rate to lift capacity in 531 healthy employed males and females in a cross-sectional model. The objectives of this study were to measure the contributions to lift capacity that are made by these variables and to develop an appropriate means to express the results of a new test of lift capacity. A formal training program was developed and administered to 110 health care professionals. Subsequently, each trained evaluator performed five tests on healthy volunteers. The effect of the independent variables were studied through the use of multiple regression and analysis of variance procedures. Results indicate that age, resting heart rate, and body weight are significant predictors of performance, with the last variable being the most important. A method to normalize lift capacity is presented in which the maximum acceptable weight lifted is divided by the evaluee's body weight to derive relative acceptable weight, a variable which is normally distributed. Those who use measures of lift capacity to describe performance must consider the effect of these variables in order to make valid interpretations of lift capacity test performance.