Resumen de VO2max, Protocol Duration, and the VO2 Plateau

Byung-Kon Yoon, Len Kravitz, Robert A. Robergs

• Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare V?O2max, V?O2-time slopes at the end of the protocol (last 30 s), and the presence of a V?O2 plateau (V?O2-time slope < 0.05 L·min-1 during the last 30 s) across four protocol durations (5, 8, 12, and 16 min) during incremental cycling exercise to V?O2max.

  Methods: Eight male (23.8 ± 3.2 yr) and eight female (26.0 ± 8.9 yr) subjects of moderate to high fitness levels participated in the study.

  Results: V?O2max was significantly higher in men than in women for each protocol duration, with main effect means of 4.23 versus 2.84 L·min-1, respectively. For women, V?O2max did not differ between any protocol duration. For men, V?O2max for the 8-min protocol (4.44 ± 0.39 L·min-1) was significantly higher than for all other protocol durations. Analysis of covariance, using the highest V?O2max as the covariate, removed all protocol-duration significance for men. The V?O2 slope for the final 30 s of each test was significantly lower for the 16-min protocol compared with the 5-min protocol, for both men and women. The ventilation threshold across four protocols was similar, at approximately 76% of V?O2max for both men and women.

  Conclusions: The protocol duration of tests to V?O2max should be between 8 and 10 min for healthy, moderately to highly trained subjects.