Table 2.

Characteristics of human participants

	YA (n = 11)	OA (n = 10)	OI (n = 8)	VOI (n = 8)
Age (years)	23.7 ± 2.7	71.2 ± 4.9	64.8 ± 3.1	82.5 ± 4.8
Height (cm)	178.1 ± 6.2	170.7 ± 3.6	172.9 ± 7.3	171.6 ± 8.2
Weight (kg)	79.5 ± 8.3	74.7 ± 7.5	75.3 ± 13.3	77.1 ± 9.3
BMI	25.1 ± 2.5	25.6 ± 2.4	25.2 ± 4.1	26.2 ± 3.2
${\dot{V}}_{{\mathrm{O}}_2\mathrm{peak}}$ (ml kg min)−1	42.0 ± 4.1	29.4 ± 6.1	22.6 ± 3.0	20.8 ± 3.1

Age groups were very similar in height, weight and body mass index (BMI). In accordance with our classification of the groups according to self‐reported activity levels, ${\dot{V}}_{{\mathrm{O}}_2\mathrm{peak}}$ was greater in the YA group compared to all of the old (OA, OI, VOI) groups, and the OA group had a greater ${\dot{V}}_{{\mathrm{O}}_2\mathrm{peak}}$ than the OI group. Data are presented as the mean ± SD.