Comparison of Validity of Three Maximal Oxygen Uptake Tests

Maximal Oxygen Uptake Tests 1
COMPARISON OF VALIDITY OF THREE MAXIMAL OXYGEN UPTAKE TESTS
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Maximal Oxygen Uptake Tests 2
Comparison of Validity of Three Maximal Oxygen Uptake Tests
Abstract
The central purpose of this research study is to compare the validity of three oxygen
uptake tests namely: submaximal cycle test, Copper walk run test, and multistage shuttle run test.
The three tests will be used to assess maximum oxygen uptake when subjects are using a cycle
ergometer. According, three predict test were performed that involved: linear extrapolation of
participants heart rate of VO2 that is derived from the observed submaximal cycle ergometer test,
a multistage progressive shuttle run test (MST), and Cooper walk-run test. This assessment were
performed on 30 participants across four years from 2014 to 2017.The average age and body
mass of participants was roughly 23 years of age and 71 kilograms respectively. These results
were compared to the direct findings recorded on a maximal cycle ergometer test (Nguyen, et al.,
2013). Majority of the participants are either athletes or perform exercise activities regularly.
The mean (standard deviation) associated with different tests in terms of ml.kg-1.min-1
were observed as follows: Cooper test 65.6 (12.4), MST 57.8 (7.8), predicted L/E 55 (6.5), and
maximal cycle ergometer 63.4 (9.3). The correlation results between different tests was also
presented; for instance, the copper test registered the following correlation results with maximal
cycle ergometer test (0.88), MST (0.82), and predicted L/E (0.75). In all occasions, the MST and
predicted L/E test under-estimated the cycle ergometer value. The results indicated that MST
was 3.9 ml.kg-1.min-1 lower than cycle ergometer VO2max, while Predicted L/E was 6.6 ml.kg-
1.min-1 lower than cycle ergometer VO2max. The conclusion drawn in this study is that the Cooper
test is the most effective predictor of VO2 of the three tests assessed in the entire paper (Nguyen,
et al., 2013).

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Introduction
Maximum oxygen uptake also referred to as Aerobic power (VO2) is used to reference
the maximum rate of oxygen consumption. Aerobic power is normally used as measure of
aerobic or cardio-respiratory fitness. Due to the expensive nature of VO2 computation with
regard to cost and time spent on precise gas assessment; several predictive tests have been
developed to aid in analysis of aerobic fitness. There are several tests that include performance-
centric measures such as walking or running for a prescribed time frame, conducting a multistage
progressive test (MST) which is characterised by speed increment every 2 minutes. During all
these activities measurements of heart rate are take and extrapolated in order to come up with
maximum heart rate that is then used to tabulate VO2max (Nguyen, et al., 2013). The MST and
Cooper test are considered to be the most effective when tackling a large group of participants;
since, the two are maximal in nature they are flawed because they create potential health
problems.
Moreover, both test demand complete dedication and motivation on the participants' part
for them to provided truly maximal effort in the different activities/workload. On the other hand,
a submaximal test on a cycle ergometer does not require participants to give their all, but it is
time consuming. Numerous studies have assessed the validity of the Copper, linear extrapolation,
and MST separate but very few studies have compared the three tests within the same
population. The major limitation observed in previous studies is the fact that correlation was only
drawn between the direct measurement and the predicted score. Correlations are effective
assessments of validity but they do not paint a comprehensive picture of the situation. The social
aim of this study is to expound the existing knowledge on the validity of field testing. As such,
the participants will provide the data that will be analysed to provide information on the validity

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of linear extrapolation, Cooper, and MST methods in the assessment of maximum oxygen uptake
(Gross, et al., 2017).
Methods
Participants
Thirty healthy university students were enrolled to take part in the data collection
exercise on a volunteer basis. All participants willingly consented to their involvement in the
study and the study was subsequently approved by the university ethics committee. The
participants was exposed to several physical and sports activities; majority of which were
endurance related with different levels of difficulty and training status to cater to the individual
skills of the subjects.
Design
Regardless of the year in which the assessment were performed (2014, 2015, 2016, or
2017), the subjects were expected to undertake four different tests across five subsequent days.
On the first day the participants were expect to perform a submaximal cycle ergometer test
followed shortly after (25-30 minutes) by a direct measurement on a cycle ergometer. These tests
were conducted first because they could be conducted in the laboratory and it was relatively
easily for the subjects' ECG results to be monitored before they were directed to more
demanding sport activities (maximal tests). The Cooper test and MST were conducted on
separate days in a non-chronological manner (to sustain randomness). The two tests were
conducted with an interval of two days. The participants were expected to register heart rate of
120-170 beats/min after a three minute warm-up. The tests considered of four submaximal
exercises conducted subsequently with each lasting five minutes; all four tests were performed