Establishing maximal oxygen uptake in young people during a ramp cycle test to exhaustion

Objectives This study tested the hypotheses that (1) secondary criteria (respiratory exchange ratio (RER), heart rate, blood [ lactate]) traditionally used to verify the determination of maximum oxygen uptake (<(V)over dot>O(2max)) in children can result in the acceptance of a 'submaximal' <(V)over dot>O(2max) or falsely reject a 'true' <(V)over dot>O(2max) and (2) the <(V)over dot>O(2peak) recorded during a ramp test in children is comparable to the <(V)over dot>O(2peak) achieved during supramaximal testing. Methods Thirteen children (9-10 years) completed a ramp cycle test to exhaustion to determine their <(V)over dot>O(2peak). After 15 min of recovery, the participants performed a supramaximal cycle test to exhaustion at 105% of their ramp test peak power. Results Compared with the <(V)over dot>O(2peak) during the ramp test, a significantly lower <(V)over dot>O(2) was recorded at a RER of 1.00 (1.293 litre/min (SD 0.265) vs 1.681 litre/min (SD 0.295), p<0.001, n=12), at a heart rate of 195 beats/min (1.556 litre/min (SD 0.265) vs 1.721 litre/min (SD 0.318), p<0.001, n=10) and at 85% of age-predicted maximum (1.345 litre/min (SD 0.228) vs 1.690 litre/min (SD 0.284), p<0.001, n=13). Supramaximal testing yielded a <(V)over dot>O(2peak) that was not significantly different from the ramp test (1.615 litre/min (SD 0.307) vs 1.690 litre/min (SD 0.284), p=0.090, respectively). Conclusions The use of secondary criteria to verify a maximal effort in young people during ramp cycling exercise may result in the acceptance of a submaximal <(V)over dot>O(2max). As supramaximal testing elicits a <(V)over dot>O(2peak) similar to the ramp protocol, thus satisfying the plateau criterion, the use of such tests is recommended as the appropriate method of confirming a 'true' <(V)over dot>O(2max) with children.