What is the clinical evidence from this study?

Study design: Other. Intervention: Discontinuous protocol (DT) vs. Continuous protocol (CT). Primary outcome: VO2max (ml.kg-1.min-1) (p=< 0.05).

February 1, 1997

Applicability of ??VO2max criteria: discontinuous versus continuous protocols

Q: What are the key findings of this study?

The discontinuous and continuous protocols yielded similar VO2max values (56.8 vs 55.8 ml.kg-1.min-1), demonstrating that a VO2 plateau is not a prerequisite for defining VO2max.

Key Result

The discontinuous and continuous protocols yielded similar VO2max values (56.8 vs 55.8 ml.kg-1.min-1), demonstrating that a VO2 plateau is not a prerequisite for defining VO2max.

Structured PICO

Does a continuous exercise protocol yield similar maximal physiological responses and VO2max criteria achievement compared to a discontinuous protocol in young males?

Population

10 males (mean age 24.1 years) evaluated for maximal physiological responses using discontinuous and continuous exercise protocols.

Intervention

Continuous version of the Taylor et al. (1955) protocol for VO2max testing

Comparator

Classic discontinuous Taylor et al. (1955) protocol

Outcome

Maximal physiological responses and incidence of achievement of various maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) criteriasurrogate

A VO2 plateau is not a prerequisite for defining VO2max, and secondary objective criteria like RER and lactate in combination are more reliable indicators.

Main Result

Absolute Event Rate: 56.8% vs 55.8%

p-value: p=< 0.05

Abstract

This study compared the classic discontinuous Taylor et al. (1955) protocol to a continuous version of the same protocol to evaluate maximal physiological responses, and the quantitative values and incidence of achievement of the various maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) criteria in 10 males (24.1 +/- 2.5 yr). Criteria were a plateau in VO2 (change or = 1.15, and lactate > 8 mmol.l-1. Values for VO2max (56.8 +/- 4.7 vs 55.8 +/- 4.2 ml.kg-1.min-1), ventilation (150.7 +/- 16 vs 149.5 +/- 17.5 l.min-1 BTPS), and HR (186.3 +/- 7.7 beats.min-1 vs 191.7 +/- 6.7 beats.min-1) were similar (P < 0.05) between the discontinuous protocol (DT) and the continuous protocol (CT), respectively. Values for RER (1.28 +/- 0.05 vs 1.22 +/- 0.05) and lactate (14.3 +/- 2.7 vs 11.9 +/- 2.7 mmol.l-1) were greater (P < 0.05) on the DT than the CT. Criteria achievement were the following: 40% (CT) and 10% (DT) for HR; 50% (CT) and 60% (DT) for a VO2 plateau; and, 90% (CT) and 100% (DT) for RER and lactate. It is concluded that a VO2 plateau is not a prerequisite for defining VO2max and is of limited use as the primary objective criterion for evaluating the quality of a graded exercise test. Therefore, the achievement of secondary objective criteria, specifically RER and lactate in combination, increases the likelihood that the highest VO2 value achieved is VO2max.

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