The normal exhibition of maximum aerobic capacity is to demonstrate a plateau in oxygen consumption during an extended bout of work in a laboratory test. However, the majority of children and adolescents exercise to exhaustion without demonstrating a plateau. VO 2peak is reliable and reproducible in children to the same extent that VO 2max is in adults. When measuring aerobic parameters in children it is important to use sport-specific tasks if the information is to be related to training or a particular sport. In pre-pubertal children the VO 2peak differences exist despite similar hemoglobin concentrations.
Boys appear to possess a greater percentage of lean body mass than girls in the pre-pubertal years.
Children's VO 2max is as good as that of adults but their movements are less efficient, have a lower metabolic scope, have smaller stores of muscle glycogen, and are coupled with immature temperature regulation. Children are at a disadvantage when performing prolonged aerobic exercise when compared to adults. There is some evidence of a growth spurt in VO 2peak in boys with the spurt reaching maximum near the time of peak height velocity. There are insufficient data to generalize about girls. The difference between VO 2peak in boys and girls is more pronounced in mature adolescents.