[vansickle]

vansickle on October 10, 2019 at 3:51 pm · in reply to: So I got Lab Tested #30049

Depends on the step size. Increasing by 2-3% per stage is a fairly mild bump in workrate.

[vansickle]

vansickle on October 9, 2019 at 5:50 pm · in reply to: So I got Lab Tested #29948

For testing mountaineering athletes at UC Davis Sports Medicine, we use a walking protocol that increases grade every 4 minutes. I prefer a minimum of ~24 minutes of data collection (6 stages). Runners are tested with increasing speed. Note: this protocol is not intended to measure VO2max. We will use this for metabolic (VO2/VCO2) and/or blood lactate tests.
Also – edit to my last post. This is technically a step protocol, not a ramp protocol. Just much smaller steps than the Bruce.

[vansickle]

vansickle on October 9, 2019 at 11:21 am · in reply to: So I got Lab Tested #29745

Sounds like they used a Bruce Protocol for your test – typical for cardiology/CPET testing, basically useless for performance testing. You need more of a ramp protocol (e.g., increasing 3% every 3-5 minutes), with more samples to really get meaningful data. A large workload increase, like that in the Bruce, misses all the important physiological transitions, and without a longer step length/smaller work increment, it is difficult to match the changes temporally with heart rate.