Reproducibility of an Incremental Treadmill &OV0312;o2max Test with Gas Exchange Analysis for Runners (original) (raw)

2011, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research

Lourenc xo, TF, Martins, LEB, Tessutti, LS, Brenzikofer, R, and Vaz Macedo, D. Reproducibility of an incremental treadmill _ VO 2 max test with gas exchange analysis for runners. J Strength Cond Res 25 : 1994-1999, 2011-The evaluation of performance through the application of adequate physical tests during a sportive season may be a useful tool to evaluate training adaptations and determine training intensities. For runners, treadmill incremental _ VO 2 max tests with gas exchange analysis have been widely used to determine maximal and submaximal parameters such as the ventilatory threshold (VT) and respiratory compensation point (RCP) running speed. However, these tests often differ in methodological characteristics (e.g., stage duration, grade, and speed increment size), and few studies have examined the reproducibility of their protocol. Therefore, the aim of this study was to verify the reproducibility and determine the running speeds related to maximal and submaximal parameters of a specific incremental maximum effort treadmill protocol for amateur runners. Eleven amateur male runners underwent 4 repetitions of the protocol (25-second stages, each increasing by 0.3 kmÁh 21 in running speed while the treadmill grade remained fixed at 1%) after 3 minutes of warm-up at 8-8.5 kmÁh 21 . We found no significant differences in any of the analyzed parameters, including VT, RCP, and _ VO 2 max during the 4 repetitions (p . 0.05). Further, the results related to running speed showed high within-subject reproducibility (coefficient of variation , 5.2%). The typical error (TE) values for running speed related to VT (TE = 0.62 kmÁh 21 ), RCP (TE = 0.35 kmÁh 21 ), and _ VO 2 max (TE = 0.43 kmÁh 21 ) indicated high sensitivity and reproducibility of this protocol. We conclude that this _ VO 2 max protocol facilitates a clear determination of the running speeds related to VT, RCP, and _ VO 2 max and has the potential to enable the evaluation of small training effects on maximal and submaximal parameters.