Table 1.
Participants’ descriptive characteristics.
| Men (n = 35) | Women (n = 72) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean | SD | Mean | SD | p | |
| Anthropometry and body composition parameters | |||||
| Weight (kg) | 82 | 16 | 63 | 12 | <0.001 |
| Height (cm) | 175 | 7 | 164 | 7 | <0.001 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 27 | 5 | 23 | 4 | <0.001 |
| Fat mass (kg) | 25 | 11 | 24 | 8 | 0.558 |
| Fat mass (%) | 30 | 7 | 38 | 6 | <0.001 |
| Fat free mass (kg) | 55 | 7 | 38 | 5 | <0.001 |
| Waist circumference (cm) | 89 | 14 | 76 | 11 | <0.001 |
| Cardiorespiratory fitness parameters | |||||
| CRF (ml/min) | 3745 | 710 | 2528 | 433 | <0.001 |
| CRFBW (ml/[kg/BW]/min) | 46.2 | 8.9 | 40.7 | 5.9 | 0.002 |
| CRFFFM (ml/[kg/FFM]/min) | 67.7 | 9.5 | 67.0 | 8.1 | 0.708 |
| Circulating cardiometabolic risk factors and blood pressure parameters | |||||
| Glucose (mg/dl) | 89 | 7 | 86 | 5 | 0.052 |
| Insulin (UI/ml) | 9 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 0.257 |
| HOMA index | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0.185 |
| Total cholesterol (mg/dl) | 161 | 32 | 167 | 32 | 0.431 |
| HDL-C (mg/dl) | 45 | 8 | 55 | 11 | <0.001 |
| LDL-C (mg/dl) | 98 | 28 | 96 | 24 | 0.707 |
| Triglycerides (mg/dl) | 88 | 45 | 77 | 42 | 0.256 |
| Systolic BP (mm Hg) | 127 | 12 | 112 | 11 | <0.001 |
| Diastolic BP (mm Hg) | 70 | 12 | 67 | 8 | 0.122 |
| Cardiometabolic risk Z-score 1 | 0.60 | 0.70 | −0.30 | 0.50 | <0.001 |
| Cardiometabolic risk Z-score 2 | 0.40 | 0.80 | −0.20 | 0.50 | 0.002 |
| Heart rate and heart rate variability parameters | |||||
| Mean HR (bpm) | 67 | 11 | 69 | 9 | 0.537 |
| RMSSD (ms) | 59 | 34 | 62 | 32 | 0.694 |
| SDNN (ms) | 54 | 25 | 53 | 23 | 0.888 |
| pNN50 (%) | 33 | 23 | 36 | 21 | 0.513 |
| HF (ms2) | 7 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 0.380 |
| HRV Z-score | 0.01 | 1.00 | 0.10 | 1.00 | 0.700 |
Results are presented as mean and standard deviation (SD), and p-values from students t-test analyses. BMI: body mass index; CRF: cardiorespiratory fitness (i.e., peak VO2 uptake); CRFBW: CRF relative to body weight (peak VO2 uptake/kg of body weight); CRFFFM: CRF relative to fat-free mass (peak VO2 uptake/kg of fat-free mass); HOMA: homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance index; HDL-C, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; LDL-C, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; BP, blood pressure; Cardiometabolic risk Z-scores 1 and 2: the first Z-score included classical metabolic syndrome markers (glucose, triglycerides, HDL-C, BP, and waist circumference), while the second included these classical metabolic syndrome markers and insulin related markers (insulin and HOMA index) and total cholesterol and LDL-C Z-score values; HR, heart rate (in beats per minute [bpm]); RMSSD, the square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of the R-R interval differences; SDNN, standard deviation of normal R-R intervals; pNN50, the percentage of R-R intervals that show a difference higher than 50 milliseconds (ms); HF, the power of the high-frequency band (HF: 0.15–0.4 Hertz); HRV Z-score: heart rate variability Z-score including the RMSSD, the SDNN, the pNN50, and the HF time and frequency domain parameters’ Z-score values.