Validation of an arm crank ergometer test for use in sedentary adults

The maximal oxygen uptake (v̇ o2peak) test is an approvedv̇ preoperative examination tool,in a clinical setting: both o2peak and anaerobic threshold indicate a patient's physiological tolerance for major surgery and post-operativev̇ mortality,with cycle ergometry being routinely used for o2peak tests in clinical settings,in many european countries. nevertheless,the opportunities to assess populations with restricted mobility of the lower limbs are limited,as alternativev̇ methods (such as an arm-crank test protocol) to assess o2peak are yet to be established. twelve sedentary middle-aged adults (55.1 ± 5.0 years) performed two incremental protocols on an arm crank and cycle ergometer on separate occasions. during exercise,gas exchange was collected and analysed by an online breath-by-breath analysis system. regression analysis showedv̇ that (cev̇the model with dependent variable cycle ergometer o2peak o2v̇peak) in ml·kg(acev̇-1·min-1 and independent variables arm crank o2peak o2peak) in ml·kg-1·min-1,lean body mass lower limbs (lbmll) and total lean body mass (tlbm) fitted the population the best,with r2 = 0.87,adj. r2 = 0.82 andv̇ see = 3.14. the equation estimatedv̇ with this model is: ce o2peak = 11.776 + 1.418 x ace o2peak(ml·kg-1·min-) – 1.454 x tlbm + 3.967 x lllbm. our study suggests that arm cranking could be an alternative mode of exercise for sedentary middle-aged adults (and potentially in clinical settings) to assess the cardiorespiratory fitness of people with restricted lower-limb mobility. ©journal of sports science and medicine.