Reference data on anthropometrics, aerobic fitness and muscle strength in young Norwegian men and women.

Content Provider	Europe PMC
Author	Aandstad, Anders
Abstract	PurposeAnthropometrics, aerobic fitness and muscle strength are measured in one-third of all 18-year-old Norwegian men and women during yearly selection for compulsory military service. The large sample size and geographical representativity make these data valuable for reference. The main purpose of this study was to present reference data for anthropometrics and physical fitness in young Norwegian men and women.MethodsAll 154,659 subjects (66% men and 34% women, 17–21 years old) who completed physical examinations at conscript selection from 2011 to 2019 were included in the study. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated from height and weight measurements. Peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak) was estimated from performance on a maximal treadmill test. Muscle strength was measured by isometric chest and leg press, or seated medicine ball throw, standing long jump and pull-ups.ResultsMean BMI (SD) was 23.1 (3.4) and 22.9 (3.3) kg·m−2 in men and women, respectively (P < 0.001), and 24% of men and 21% of women had a BMI ≥ 25 kg·m−2. Estimated VO2peak was 52.9 (4.6) and 42.7 (3.9) mL·kg−1·min−1 in men and women, respectively (P < 0.001). Men performed significantly better than women on all muscle strength tests, with corresponding effect sizes varying from 1.14 for isometric leg press to 2.96 for seated medicine ball throw.ConclusionThe presented reference data on physical fitness in young Norwegian men and women can be used to evaluate population health, serve as reference material for future studies and describes sex differences in several physical fitness parameters.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00421-021-04784-4.
Related Links	https://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?accid=PMC8505311&blobtype=pdf
ISSN	14396319
Journal	European Journal of Applied Physiology [Eur J Appl Physiol]
Volume Number	121
DOI	10.1007/s00421-021-04784-4
PubMed Central reference number	PMC8505311
Issue Number	11
PubMed reference number	34390403
e-ISSN	14396327
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Publisher Date	2021-08-14
Publisher Place	Berlin/Heidelberg
Access Restriction	Open
Rights License	Open AccessThis article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. © The Author(s) 2021
Subject Keyword	Normative BMI Maximal oxygen uptake Cardiorespiratory Military
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Physiology (medical) Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health Sports Science