THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ESTIMATED VO2MAX AND ABILITY TO PERFORM HIGH INCLINE TREADMILL WALKING

S. Sleight1, D. Weishaar1, A. Blake1, D.E. Lankford1, D.P. Heil, FACSM2 Brigham Young University- Idaho, Rexburg, Idaho1, Montana State University, Bozeman2 Hikers are often seen preparing for an expedition by exercising on stadiums stairs or other steep inclines. The accessibility to these inclines is often limiting and sometimes impractical leaving more common means of exercise as the mode of preparation. Therefore the purpose of our study was to determine whether an increased general fitness levels, not specific to hiking, was related to the ability to perform high incline walking. Methods: 22 college aged participants (21.7 ± 2.5 yrs74.4 ±14.1 kg) completed the study. Participants were not active hikers at the time of testing. Prior to testing each participants completed a Physical Activity Rating (PA-R) and Perceived Functional Ability (PFA) questionnaire to estimate VO2max. Testing consisted of a low grade walking warm up (≥10% incline, 2 mph) for 20 minutes, followed by a 5 minute rest. Participants then performed high incline treadmill walking (40% incline, 2 mph) for 20 minutes or until exhaustion. Time to exhaustion (TTE) during the high incline walk test was compared with estimated VO2max using a Pearson product correlation and coefficient of determination. Results: Only one participant was able to perform the high incline walking for the full 20 minutes. There was a significant relationship (r=.55, r2 = 30, p= .0076) between estimated VO2max (50.29 ml.kg.min-1 ± 1.15) and TTE (7.05 minutes ± 0.95) Conclusion: These data indicate that improving one’s general fitness level, while not mode specific to hiking, may be a helpful means to improve high incline hiking ability. Supported by a grant from ICON Health and Fitness inc