Actual Versus Predicted Cardiovascular Demands in Submaximal Cycle Ergometer Testing

International Journal of Exercise Science 8(1) : 4-10, 2015. The Astrand-Rhyming cycle ergometer test (ARCET) is a commonly administered submaximal test for estimating aerobic capacity. Whereas typically utilized in clinical populations, the validity of the ARCET to predict VO2max in a non-clinical population, especially female, is less clear. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of the ARCET in a sample of healthy and physically active college students. Subjects (13 females, 10 males) performed a maximal cycle ergometer test to volitional exhaustion to determine VO2max. At least 48 hours later, subjects performed the ARCET protocol. Predicted VO2max was calculated following the ARCET format using the age corrected factor. There was no significant difference (p=.045) between actual (41.0±7.97 ml/kg/min) and predicted VO2max (40.3±7.58 ml/kg/min). When split for gender there was a significant difference between actual and predicted VO2 for males, (45.1±7.74 vs. 42.7±8.26 ml/kg/min, p=0.029) but no significant difference observed for females, (37.9±6.9 vs. 38.5±6.77 ml/kg/min, p=0.675). The correlation between actual and predicted VO2 was r=0.84, p\u3c0.001 with an SEE= 4.3 ml/kg/min. When split for gender, the correlation for males was r=0.94, p\u3c0.001, SEE=2.72 ml/kg/min; for females, r=0.74, p=0.004, SEE=4.67 ml/kg/min. The results of this study indicate that the ARCET accurately estimated VO2max in a healthy college population of both male and female subjects. Implications of this study suggest the ARCET can be used to assess aerobic capacity in both fitness and clinical settings where measurement via open-circuit spirometry is either unavailable or impractical