Supra-Versus Submaximal Cycle Ergometer Verification of VO 2max in Males and Females

• Published in: Sports (Basel) Vol. 8; no. 12
• Main Authors: Sawyer, Brandon J, McMahon, Nicholas, Thornhill, Kirsten L, Baughman, Brett R, Mahoney, Jenny M, Pattison, Kai L, Freeberg, Kaitlin A, Botts, Ryan T
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland 12.12.2020
• Subjects: true VO2max; incremental exercise testing; sex difference; criteria for VO2max; maximal oxygen uptake
• ISSN: 2075-4663

This study was designed to determine the optimal intensity for verification phase testing (VP) in healthy, young adults. Thirty one young, active participants (16 females) completed a cycle ergometer graded exercise test (GXT) VO test and 4 VP tests at 80, 90, 100, and 105% of the maximum wattage achieved during the GXT. GXT and VP VO values showed a significant test x sex interaction ( = 0.02). The males elicited significantly higher VO values during the GXT, 80%, and 90% when compared to the 105%, (105 vs. GXT: = 0.05; 105% vs. 80%: < 0.01; 105% vs. 90%: = 0.02). There were no significant differences in VO across the tests in the females ( > 0.05); 80% of the males achieved their highest VP VO during a submaximal VP test compared to only 37.5% of the females. A secondary study conducted showed excellent reliability (ICCs > 0.90) and low variation (CVs < 3%) for the 90% VP. Our findings show that a submaximal verification phase intensity is ideal for young healthy males to elicit the highest VO during cycle ergometer testing. For females, a range of intensities (80-105%) produce similar VO values. However, the 80% VP yields an unnecessarily high time to exhaustion.