Table 1.

Baseline characteristics of study groups (n = 78)

	Exercise sessions per week
	1 (n = 16)	2 (n = 15)	3 (n = 14)	4 (n = 17)	5 (n = 16)	ANOVA P‐value
Body weight (kg)	76.6 ± 5.8	76.8 ± 4.8	77.7 ± 5.7	77.8 ± 8.8	79.8 ± 5.9	0.654
Hct (%)	43.8 ± 2.3	43.4 ± 1.6	43.9 ± 2.1	43.0 ± 1.6	43.5 ± 2.2	0.752
Hb (g dl−1)	14.6 ± 0.7	14.4 ± 0.6	14.9 ± 0.7	14.8 ± 0.6	14.5 ± 0.8	0.229
Hbmass (g)	847 ± 84	878 ± 151	826 ± 103	841 ± 113	761 ± 101	0.064
PV (ml)	3266 ± 532	3440 ± 501	3077 ± 376	3246 ± 453	2976 ± 430	0.065
RBCV (ml)	2521 ± 262	2640 ± 452	2408 ± 299	2454 ± 362	2288 ± 301	0.070
BV (ml)	5787 ± 772	6080 ± 935	5486 ± 637	5700 ± 792	5264 ± 696	0.054
MitoVD (%)a	4.62 ± 1.42	4.80 ± 1.14	4.89 ± 1.09	3.86 ± 0.91	4.32 ± 1.21	0.169
HRmax (bpm)	188 ± 5	185 ± 7	187 ± 7	188 ± 6	187 ± 7	0.736
RERmax	1.15 ± 0.05	1.15 ± 0.09	1.17 ± 0.06	1.13 ± 0.05	1.14 ± 0.07	0.510
${\dot{V}}_{{\mathrm{O}}_2\max }$ (ml min−1)	3214 ± 507	3412 ± 736	3376 ± 438	3449 ± 514	2956 ± 435	0.069
${\dot{V}}_{{\mathrm{O}}_2\max }$ (ml min−1 kg−1)	42.4 ± 8.5	44.7 ± 10.7	43.4 ± 4.2	44.5 ± 5.8	37.4 ± 7.5	0.057
W max (W)	269 ± 44	289 ± 66	297 ± 42	266 ± 48	239 ± 403	0.015
W max (W kg−1)	3.54 ± 0.70	3.80 ± 0.95	3.82 ± 0.45	3.42 ± 0.48	3.02 ± 0.6123	0.008

BV, blood volume; Hb_mass, haemoglobin mass; Hct, haematocrit; HR_max, maximal heart rate; Mito_VD, mitochondrial volume density; PV, plasma volume; RBCV, red blood cell volume; RER_max, maximal respiratory exchange ratio; ${\dot{V}}_{{\mathrm{O}}_2\max }$, maximal oxygen consumption; W _max, maximal power output. Superscript numbers (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) correspond to differences (P < 0.05) between groups (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). ^aMito_VD values were not available in all study subjects (sample size of 15, 14, 11, 15, 14 in groups 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, respectively). Values in bold are significant.