Oxygen uptake kinetics from ramp work tests: variability of single test values

The variability in the estimation of the mean response time (MRT) of O2 uptake (VO2) kinetics from single ramp work rate exercise tests was examined in six repetitions by five fit subjects. Work rate increased at 50 W/min from a base line of 25 W to a work rate of 120% ventilatory threshold. Breath-by-breath data were analyzed by linear regression from 2 min after the onset of the ramp to the 120% work rate. Individual subjects showed approximately twofold differences in estimates of MRT; the coefficient of variation from individuals ranged from 18.5 to 29.3%. The MRT obtained as the mean from the individual repetitions did not differ from the MRT obtained from pooled within-subject data. Analysis of variance on the individual MRT estimates showed 53.9% of the variability was attributable to the slope of the regression, whereas only 2.4% could be attributed to baseline VO2. It was concluded that several repetitions of the ramp work rate tests should be pooled prior to estimation of kinetics parameters.