Establishing maximal oxygen uptake in young people during a ramp cycle test to exhaustion.
OBJECTIVE
This study tested the hypotheses that (1) secondary criteria (respiratory exchange ratio (RER), heart rate, blood [lactate]) traditionally used to verify the determination of maximum oxygen uptake (VO₂(max)) in children can result in the acceptance of a 'submaximal' VO₂(max) or falsely reject a 'true' VO(₂max) and (2) the VO₂(peak) recorded during a ramp test in children is comparable to the VO₂(peak) achieved during supramaximal testing.


METHODS
Thirteen children (9-10 years) completed a ramp cycle test to exhaustion to determine their VO₂(peak). After 15 min of recovery, the participants performed a supramaximal cycle test to exhaustion at 105% of their ramp test peak power.


RESULTS
Compared with the VO₂(peak) during the ramp test, a significantly lower VO₂ was recorded at a RER of 1.00 (1.293 litre/min (SD 0.265) vs 1.681 litre/min (SD 0.295), p < 0.001, n = 12), at a heart rate of 195 beats/min (1.556 litre/min (SD 0.265) vs 1.721 litre/min (SD 0.318), p < 0.001, n = 10) and at 85% of age-predicted maximum (1.345 litre/min (SD 0.228) vs 1.690 litre/min (SD 0.284), p < 0.001, n = 13). Supramaximal testing yielded a VO₂(peak) that was not significantly different from the ramp test (1.615 litre/min (SD 0.307) vs 1.690 litre/min (SD 0.284), p = 0.090, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
The use of secondary criteria to verify a maximal effort in young people during ramp cycling exercise may result in the acceptance of a submaximal VO₂(max). As supramaximal testing elicits a VO₂(peak) similar to the ramp protocol, thus satisfying the plateau criterion, the use of such tests is recommended as the appropriate method of confirming a 'true' VO₂(max) with children.
Barker
A R
AR
School of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter EX1 2LU, UK. A.R.Barker@exeter.ac.uk
Williams
C A
CA
Jones
A M
AM
Armstrong
N
N
D001642:Bicycling / Q000502:physiology; D002648:Child; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005080:Exercise Test; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000097:blood; D018763:Muscle Fatigue / Q000502:physiology; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology*; D010807:Physical Endurance / Q000502:physiology; D011659:Pulmonary Gas Exchange / Q000502:physiology
D019344:Lactic Acid