Exercise capacity among construction workers – an observational study

Background: A Construction worker is a laborer employed in the physical construction of built environment and its infrastructure. They are exposed to strenuous heavy workloads. A high physical work load increases the risk of the cardiovascular disease. Exercise capacity is the maximum amount of physical exertion a person can sustain. Cardiovascular changes in the body also depends upon the severity of the exercise .There is no study done to assess the exercise capacity. So it is quite important to know the exercise capacity to improve their quality of life. Objective: To find out the exercise capacity among construction workers by performing Incremental shuttle walk test. Methodology: Non- Experimental study design. 100 Construction workers , Both male and females, Age 25-50 years were included in the study and subjects with any coordination problems, recent cardiovascular problems, plantar fasciitis, smokers were excluded from the study. Outcome Measure: Incremental shuttle walk test. Result: The mean value of shuttle walk level is about 8.5 level and speed is about speed is about 1.78 m/s,Number of shuttle covered is on average about 20 ,the mean distance covered is 536.65 metre and the mean VO2 max value is 72.76 ml/kg/min. Conclusion: The maximum number of participants are having good exercise capacity but exercise training is necessary to improve their functional capacity to a higher level.