Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine for the first time whether \( {\dot{V}}{\text{O}}_{ 2\hbox{max}} \) could be predicted accurately and reliably from a treadmill-based perceptually regulated exercise test (PRET) incorporating a safer and more practical upper limit of RPE 15 (“Hard”) than used in previous investigations. Eighteen volunteers (21.7 ± 2.8 years) completed three treadmill PRETs (each separated by 48 h) and one maximal graded exercise test. Participants self-regulated their exercise at RPE levels 9, 11, 13 and 15 in a continuous and incremental fashion. Oxygen uptake \( \left( {{\dot{V}}{\text{O}}_{ 2} } \right) \) was recorded continuously during each 3 min bout. \( {\dot{V}}{\text{O}}_{2} \) values for the RPE range 9–15 were extrapolated to RPE19 and RPE20 using regression analysis to predict individual \( {\dot{V}}{\text{O}}_{2\hbox{max}} \) scores. The optimal limits of agreement (LoA) between actual (48.0 ± 6.2 ml kg−1 min−1) and predicted scores were −0.6 ± 7.1 and −2.5 ± 9.4 ml.kg−1 min−1 for the RPE20 and RPE19 models, respectively. Reliability analysis for the \( {\dot{V}}{\text{O}}_{2\hbox{max}} \) predictions yielded LoAs of 1.6 ± 8.5 (RPE20) and 2.7 ± 9.4 (RPE19) ml kg−1 min−1 between trials 2 and 3. These findings demonstrate that (with practice) a novel treadmill-based PRET can yield predictions of \( {\dot{V}}{\text{O}}_{2\hbox{max}} \) that are acceptably reliable and valid amongst young, healthy, and active adults.
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Ethical approval for the study was granted by the University’s Faculty of Applied and Health Sciences Research Ethics Committee. This research was funded by the Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Chester, CH1 4BJ, UK.
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Communicated by Susan Ward.
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Morris, M., Lamb, K.L., Hayton, J. et al. The validity and reliability of predicting maximal oxygen uptake from a treadmill-based sub-maximal perceptually regulated exercise test. Eur J Appl Physiol 109, 983–988 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-010-1439-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-010-1439-1