Gymnastik- och idrottshögskolan, GIH

Introduction

Maximal oxygen consumption testing is suggested to be regularly included between training blocks of athletes in order to monitor changes in fitness throughout the season. However, despite the good reliability and validity of this physiological test, an expensive metabolic chart, and expert personnel are needed. Further, the maximal effort needed by the athlete makes this test difficult to be performed routinely. Therefore, it is important to develop valid tools that are also feasible for the estimation of the maximal oxygen consumption. The aim of this study was to validate the Ekblom-Bak test (EBT) (Ekblom-Bak et al., 2014) against an incremental test measuring peak VO2 by gas exchange on a cycle ergometer in well-trained individuals.

Methods

33 highly active individuals aged 34.5±6.6yrs (mean ± standard deviation (SD)) body mass 74.5±12kg, and height; 178± 9.3m) participated in the study. The EBT test was performed prior to the incremental exercise test to peak effort on a cycle ergometer for VO2peak assessment. Oxygen uptake was determined by an automated measuring system for oxygen uptake with a mixing chamber (OxygenPro, Jaeger GmbH, Germany) validated against the Douglas bag method resulting in a typical error of 2%. The mean difference and standard deviation of the differences between the EBT and measured VO2peak was calculated with Bland-Altman analysis.

Results

The measured mean and SD VO2peak was 4.1±0.8 L•min-1 for the whole group (male 4.4±0.6 L•min-1 and female 2.9±0.5 L•min-1). The mean differences between measured and estimated (EBT) VO2peak was 0.05 L•min-1 (95% CI; -0.15 to 0.25). CV was 13.2% in the whole group with no significant differences between sexes. For individuals with a VO2peak within the valid range of the EBT (VO2max 1.56 to 4.49 L•min-1, n=23), the mean differences between measured and estimate VO2peak was -0.22 L•min-1 (95% CI; -0.36 to -0.08), resulting in a CV of 8.2%. For individuals above the valid limit (n=10), the mean difference was 0.68L•min-1(95% CI; 0.47 to 0.98) with a CV of 6.9%. Discussion The Ekblom-Bak test is an easily applied and inexpensive screening tool for a population of highly active individuals within the current validity range, and may be used routinely in monitoring fitness.

References

Ekblom-Bak E, Björkman F, Hellenius ML, Ekblom B (2014). Scand J Med Sci Sports, 24(2), 319-326