Open AccessComparison of the Ramp and Step Incremental Exercise Test Protocols in Assessing the Maximal Fat Oxidation Rate in Youth Cyclists
Author(s) -
Kamil Michalik,
Natalia Danek,
Marek Zatoń
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of human kinetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.735
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1899-7562
pISSN - 1640-5544
DOI - 10.2478/hukin-2021-0104
Subject(s) - anaerobic exercise , incremental exercise , heart rate , cycle ergometer , vo2 max , ventilation (architecture) , limits of agreement , zoology , mathematics , ventilatory threshold , lactate threshold , step test , linear regression , statistics , respiratory exchange ratio , medicine , blood lactate , physical therapy , significant difference , biology , nuclear medicine , physics , thermodynamics , blood pressure
The incremental exercise test is the most common method in assessing the maximal fat oxidation (MFO) rate. The main aim of the study was to determine whether the progressive linear RAMP test can be used to assess the maximal fat oxidation rate along with the intensities that trigger its maximal (FAT max ) and its minimal (FAT min ) values. Our study comprised 57 young road cyclists who were tested in random order. Each of them was submitted to two incremental exercise tests on an electro-magnetically braked cycle-ergometer - STEP (50 W·3 min -1 ) and RAMP (~0.278 W·s -1 ) at a 7-day interval. A stoichiometric equation was used to calculate the fat oxidation rate, while the metabolic thresholds were defined by analyzing ventilation gases. The Student’s T-test, Bland-Altman plots and Pearson’s linear correlations were resorted to in the process of statistical analysis. No statistically significant MFO variances occurred between the tests (p = 0.12) and its rate amounted to 0.57 ± 0.15 g·min -1 and 0.53 ± 0.17 g·min -1 in the STEP and RAMP, respectively. No statistically significant variances in the absolute and relative (to maximal) values of oxygen uptake and heart rate were discerned at the FAT max and FAT min intensities. The RAMP test displayed very strong oxygen uptake correlations between the aerobic threshold and FAT max (r = 0.93, R 2 = 0.87, p < 0.001) as well as the anaerobic threshold and FAT min (r = 0.88, R 2 = 0.78, p < 0.001). Our results corroborate our hypothesis that the incremental RAMP test as well as the STEP test are reliable tools in assessing MFO, FAT max and FAT min intensities.