A longitudinal study of the effect of Antarctic residence on energy dynamics and aerobic fitness

Figures & data

Fig. 1.  The treadmill protocol. Warm-up was at a user-defined speed and gradient and lasted 10 minutes. Test speed was set to either 2.7 m/s (6.0 mph) or 4.0 m/s (8.9 mph) according to estimated fitness level.

Table I. Anthropometric and baseline data of participants at the start of the study period, illustrating mean values (standard deviation) and range

	Mean	Range
Age (years)	30.6 (6.05)	21–45
Height (m)	1.78 (0.0867)	1.55–1.90
Weight (kg)	79.5 (12.3)	56–112
BMI (kg/m^2)	25.2 (3.29)	20.2–34.0
Body fat (%)	20.3 (6.66)	12.0–34.4
Male	19.0 (5.92)	12.0–32.4
Female	28.4 (5.50)	23.5–34.4
VO2max (ml/kg/min)	60.2 (9.26)	37.0–74.0

Table II. Monthly climate data for 1 January 2007–31 December 2007, illustrating mean values (standard deviation) and range

	Mean	Range
Temperature (°C)	−3.64 (3.78)	−23.4–6.10
Wind speed (knots)	12.2 (3.05)	8.10–18.5
Total sunshine (hours)	94.6 (75.4)	0–196
Relative humidity (%)	75.6 (4.63)	68.8–84.7

Table III. Unweighted mean (standard deviation) monthly values of main outcome measures

Sample month	Body weight (kg)^a	Body fat (%)^b	Food intake (kJ)	Step count (counts)	VO2max (ml/kg/min)
January	84.0 (17.7)	23.4 (8.13)	8,969 (2129)	11,784 (2029)	58.2 (12.0)
February	83.1 (18.6)	23.1 (6.66)	12,358 (5174)	11,204 (2893)	58.9 (11.3)
March	83.6 (18.5)	23.9 (7.48)	9,817 (1445)	11,752 (2581)	56.9 (9.93)
April	84.4 (19.2)	23.2 (7.91)	12,099 (4672)	10,409 (3582)	59.3 (13.6)
May	85.6 (19.4)	23.7 (7.63)	10,639 (4607)	9,285 (1912)	59.9 (10.8)
June	85.6 (18.8)	23.7 (7.23)	9,021 (2636)	11,149 (3368)	59.1 (12.1)
July	85.9 (19.2)	24.6 (7.61)	9,162 (3167)	11,178 (1959)	59.9 (10.8)
August	84.9 (19.1)	24.0 (8.18)	9,163 (276)	11,934 (4356)	57.1 (11.2)
September	84.4 (18.9)	23.5 (8.76)	8,184 (978)	11,702 (3487)	58.9 (11.3)
October	83.9 (18.5)	22.6 (9.09)	9,806 (2503)	12,896 (4686)	59.9 (10.8)
November	83.5 (18.2)	22.5 (9.17)	10,361 (1106)	12,780 (2105)	58.8 (9.45)
December	82.5 (17.3)	22.4 (8.49)	11,054 (2324)	9,431 (3251)	61.0 (11.8)

^aStatistically significant variation over the course of the study (p = 0.012).

^bStatistically significant variation over the course of the study (p = 0.049).