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The max V̇O2 and associated physiologic measures were compared in 15 male college students by use of the following six discontinuous and continuous bicycle ergometer and treadmill tests: Discontinuous Bicycle (DB), Continuous Bicycle (CB), Discontinuous Treadmill (DT), Continuous Treadmill (CT), Mitchell, Sproule and Chapman (MSC), and Balke Treadmill (BT) tests. In addition, test-retest reliability of maxV̇O2 scores was determined for the DB and DT tests. Mean values for maxV̇O2 on the bicycle tests averaged from 10.2 to 11.2 percent below (P < .01) the three treadmill running tests and 6.4 percent below the BT walking test. No significant differences in maxV̇O2 were observed between DB vs CB or comparisons between any of the three treadmill running tests (DT vs CT, DT vs MSC, CT vs MSC). However, mean values for maxV̇O2 were significantly lower on the BT in comparison to the three running tests. Maximum heart rate was significantly lower on the DB vs CT test. Maximum R was similar on the CT, CB, and DB tests. These values were significantly higher than values for R on the other three treadmill tests. No significant differences were observed in comparisons of maximum V̇E among the six tests. Test-retest reliability coefficients for maxV̇O2 scores on the DB and DT tests were r = .94 and .96 (Se = 112 and 94 ml O2), respectively. The difference in maxV̇O2 on readministration of the two tests was small and not statistically significant. From the standpoint of administrative feasibility, the CT test is recommended for obtaining direct measures of maxV̇O2 in large numbers of healthy subjects.
McArdle et al. (Mon,) studied this question.