Abstract

Introduction: Obesity treatment is based on the acquisition of healthy habits. Exercise plays a key role on both, weight loss and associated comorbidities control. Evaluation of physical condition is essential to understand the initial status of the patients, to establish workloads and to assess the effectiveness of an intervention. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the maximum physical work capacity (PWCmax) in a group of obese patients and to assess the impact of the degree of obesity on it. Materials and Methods: 102 men and 217 women underwent an incremental cycle ergometer test, up to 85% of their maximum heart rate. Determination of the PWCmax was performed by linear extrapolation of the theoretical maximum heart rate. Results: The PWCmax for men by body mass index (BMI) was: BMI 30- 34,9 kg/m2 : 231,9±49,4 w; BMI 35-39,9 kg/m2 : 238,8±68,4 w; BMI≥40 kg/m2 : 274,7±89,3 w (ns). The relative value of PWCmax was 2,27±0,4; 2,14±0,6 and 2,06±0,7 w/kg, respectively (ns). In women, the absolute PWCmax by BMI was: BMI<30 kg/ m2 : 171,9±36 w; BMI 30-34,9 kg/m2 : 170,8±39,7 w; BMI 35-39, 9 kg/m2 : 175,1±48,3 w; BMI≥40 kg/m2 : 201,7±55,8 w (ns). The relative value was 2,31±0,5; 2,04±0,4; 1,87±0,5 and 1,77±0,4 w/kg, respectively. This was significantly higher in women with BMI<30 kg/m2 Discussion: The PWCmax determination, as described above, is well tolerated by obese patients, unlike the walk test, which main limitation is the transfer of body weight. The obesity degree did not determine the PWCmax in men, but in women, a greater BMI was associated with a lower relative PWCmax.