Validation of a Cycle Ergometer VO2max prediction equation for nonsedentary college-age women

Abstract

Twenty-one noneedentary college women volunteered to perform a maximal exercise test on a Honark stationary cycle ergometer. The S's ranged in age from 18-25 years. Each Ses maximal work load (watts), wt (kg), and age were utilized to estimate V02max in relative (ml.kg-l.minl) and absolute (L-mid1) terms, using the V02max prediction equation developed by Storer, Davis, and Caiozzo (1990). Pearson's product moment correlation coefficients were computed to measure the strength of the relationship between the actual V02max obtained through direct gas analysis and the predicted VOzmax using the Storer et al. (1990) equation in relative and absolute terms. Relatively high correlations between the actual and predicted values were revealed (r - .88 and r - . 9 2 ) . Although a &-test revealed a significant difference at the .05 confidence level between the actual and predicted VOzmax values, the majority of the estimations were within 10% of the actual VOzmax which agrees with the results published by Storer et al. in 1990. It can be concluded that the VOzmax prediction equation developed by Storer et al. (1990) can be used to predict VOzmax in healthy, nonsedentary college age women.