The Reliability and Validity of a Four-Minute Running Time-Trial in Assessing V˙O2max and Performance

• Main Author: Kerry McGawley
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2017-05-01
• Series: Frontiers in Physiology
• Subjects: graded-exercise test; maximal oxygen uptake; reproducibility; testing; verification phase
• Online Access: http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fphys.2017.00270/full

Introduction: Traditional graded-exercise tests to volitional exhaustion (GXTs) are limited by the need to establish starting workloads, stage durations, and step increments. Short-duration time-trials (TTs) may be easier to implement and more ecologically valid in terms of real-world athletic events. The purpose of the current study was to assess the reliability and validity of maximal oxygen uptake (V˙O2max) and performance measured during a traditional GXT (STEP) and a four-minute running time-trial (RunTT).Methods: Ten recreational runners (age: 32 ± 7 years; body mass: 69 ± 10 kg) completed five STEP tests with a verification phase (VER) and five self-paced RunTTs on a treadmill. The order of the STEP/VER and RunTT trials was alternated and counter-balanced. Performance was measured as time to exhaustion (TTE) for STEP and VER and distance covered for RunTT.Results: The coefficient of variation (CV) for V˙O2max was similar between STEP, VER, and RunTT (1.9 ± 1.0, 2.2 ± 1.1, and 1.8 ± 0.8%, respectively), but varied for performance between the three types of test (4.5 ± 1.9, 9.7 ± 3.5, and 1.8 ± 0.7% for STEP, VER, and RunTT, respectively). Bland-Altman limits of agreement (bias ± 95%) showed V˙O2max to be 1.6 ± 3.6 mL·kg−1·min−1 higher for STEP vs. RunTT. Peak HR was also significantly higher during STEP compared with RunTT (P = 0.019).Conclusion: A four-minute running time-trial appears to provide more reliable performance data in comparison to an incremental test to exhaustion, but may underestimate V˙O2max.