Abstract

Purpose An oxygen uptake (V̇O2) plateau, despite an increased work rate, is considered the gold standard for confirming if exercise test performance reflects maximal oxygen uptake (V̇O2max). We investigated whether adolescents demonstrate a V̇O2 plateau during an incremental test or if a supramaximal verification phase is necessary to confirm V̇O2max. We also investigated the impact of using moving versus binned time averages on V̇O2max values, and how these processing strategies influence the interpretation of the verification phase in confirming V̇O2max.

Methods A total of 27 adolescents (16 girls) aged 12 to 14 years completed an incremental cycle ergometer ramp test to exhaustion. After a 15-minute recovery, a verification phase was conducted at 105% of their incremental test peak power. V̇O2max was analysed using 15-second binned and moving averages.

Results Out of 27 participants, 5 (19%) demonstrated a plateau in V̇O2 during an incremental test. V̇O2max was confirmed in the verification phase for 23 out of the 27 adolescents (85%). The moving V̇O2max (mL/kg/min) averages were higher than the binned V̇O2 values in the incremental test (1.8%) and the verification phase (2.4%) (P<0.0001). Processing strategies did not affect the confirmation of V̇O2max.

Conclusion A verification phase is necessary for accurately determining V̇O2max in adolescents, who often do not reach a V̇O2 plateau. The processing strategies of exercise tests should be reported, as different strategies can lead to variations in V̇O2max results. However, these processing strategies do not impact the utility of the verification test.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Clinical Trial

ISRCTN11803379

Funding Statement

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The VERNA Study has financially been supported by the Juho Vainio Foundation and Finnish Foundation for Cardiovascular Research. Finnish Foundation for Cardiovascular Research, Urheiluopisto Foundation, Paivikki and Sakari Sohlberg Foundation, Yrjo Jahnsson Foundation, Aarne Koskelo Foundation, Juho Vainio Foundation, Paavo Nurmi Foundation, Paulos Foundation and The Finnish Brain Foundation financially supported Petri Jalanko.

Author Declarations

I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.

Yes

The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:

The Research Ethics Committee of the Hospital District of Central Finland, Jyvaskyla, Finland, approved the study protocol in 2022 (5U/2021)

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Yes

I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).

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I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable.

Yes

Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available. The PI Dr. Eero Haapala (eero.a.haapalajyu.fi) can provide the data on reasonable request.

AbbreviationsBMBody massBMIBody mass indexCRFCardiorespiratory fitnessRERRespiratory exchange ratioSMMSkeletal muscle massV̇O2Oxygen uptakeV̇O2maxMaximal oxygen uptakeV̇O2peakPeak oxygen uptake