VO₂ kinetics expressed as MRT is correlated with VO₂max when measured using a PRBS protocol

Abstract

[Extract] Oxygen uptake (VO₂) kinetics, measured using a pseudo-random binary sequence (PRBS) exercise test, has been proposed as a convenient low intensity method of determining cardiovascular fitness in sports people unwilling or unable to perform maximal exercise (Edwards et al., 1999). Although frequency domain analysis of PRBS exercise has shown that VO₂ kinetics are related to maximal oxygen uptake (VO₂max) (Eβfeld 1987), the application of the PRBS technique to assess cardiovascular (CV) fitness has been limited perhaps because of the difficulty of interpreting the frequency responses. Calculation of the mean response time (MRT) provides an alternative to frequency domain analysis (Hughson et al., 1991) and has the advantage of providing a single test measure of VO₂ kinetics, however this technique has not been widely used. The purpese of this study was to utilise MRT to examine the relationship between VO₂ kinetics and VO₂max.