Table 1.

Summary of age-associated changes in cardiovascular performance at peak exercise. Effects of aging are derived from comparison of aerobic exercise testing of healthy young adults (20–30 years) and healthy older adults (60–80 years). CV = cardiovascular. NC = no change. Data summarized from references 19–22.

CV Parameter at Peak Exercise	Effects of Aging
Cardiac output	↓ /NC
Heart rate	↓
LV stroke volume	↑/↓ /NC
LV end-diastolic volume	↑
LV contractility	↓
Early diastolic filling rate	↓
VO2 max	↓
(A–V) O2 difference	↓