Graded exercise testing for spaceflight.
We developed and validated a graded exercise protocol suitable for operational use on space station. The new treadmill protocol has three level-grade stages (3-min each) at 70, 80, and 90% of estimated VO2peak. The protocol maintains the third stage speed while grade increases each minute to produce work rates equivalent to 100, 107, and 115% of the estimated VO2peak. We compared the new protocol's peak and submaximal responses to those observed during a NASA graded exercise test. All mean protocol differences, including peak work rate (-1.8%), VO2peak (-6.4%), HRpeak (-2.4%), and VEpeak (-9.7%), were not significantly different from the expected measurement errors. We observed similar results for indices (the oxygen uptake at a HR of 150 and the HR's at 70, 80, and 90% of VO2peak) of the submaximal HR-VO2 relationship. The new protocol is an acceptable graded exercise test for periodic operational fitness tests.
Siconolfi
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SF
Space Biomedical Research Institute, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058, USA.
Lemoine
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SL
D000328:Adult; D005080:Exercise Test / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D010809:Physical Fitness; D013026:Space Flight