The amount of human ability to receive oxygen is different. People with higher oxygen intake can do endurance work and activities better than others. There are various reasons that limit humans in terms of maximum oxygen intake for some variables like gender, level of fitness, type of muscle fibres, cardiac and vascular fitness, etc., most people receive less than 300 ml of oxygen per minute, and at the highest level of activity, they can receive about 6 litres of oxygen per minute. Of course, these numbers are approximate. We cannot demand a good consumption activity from a person who can take a maximum of 2 and a half litres of oxygen. What has been said reveals to us that it is important for us to know the maximum oxygen consumption, which is also referred to in the term Maximum Aerobic Power. Does our athlete have good endurance and aerobic abilities or not? How much has our training affected aerobic capacity? What is the ceiling of our athlete's progress in aerobic capacity?
Required tools
Gas analyzer (we used Gas Analyzer Metalyzer 3B)
treadmill
Meter to measure the height
Scales for measuring weight
How to run the test
To run this test, you need to perform several steps carefully. Part of the work is related to the device and another part is related to the test and the athlete. We have discussed each one below.
Device settings
Before running the test, we must prepare the devices for testing. For this purpose, you must turn on the device in the first step. Before turning it on, make sure to connect the tubes of volume sensors and oxygen sensors to the device. Turn on the device to complete the warm-up phase, which usually takes up to 20 minutes.
After the warm-up, you must enter the calibration phase. In three steps, the calibration of oxygen, carbon dioxide and air volume should be done according to the standard protocol of each device. Calibrations are usually done once in a while and do not need to be done every day.
Turn on the treadmill and make sure the treadmill is connected to the software.
If you have done the above steps, then you can enter the test phase.
Athletes Preparing
To perform this set, the athlete must wear appropriate clothes. Minimum clothing is our recommendation. The athlete should be warmed up beforehand and his weight and height should be measured and recorded in the software.
The athlete is placed on the treadmill. Connect the oxygen mask and heart rate sensor to him.
Tips before starting the test
The test protocol
The maximum oxygen consumption test is performed with various protocols based on each person, sport, age and other variables. Therefore, the protocol discussed here may not be suitable for everyone. We use the Bruce protocol for this test. Some protocols are carried out in a stepwise manner, that is, the slope and speed increase after every few minutes, but some protocols are in the form of a ramp, and the slope and speed increase slowly.
The principle is that in the maximum tests, the test should be continued until the person is unable to continue, but in the sub-maximum tests, these tests should not be continued to the point of incapacity. These tests are sometimes dangerous for some people. Falling from the treadmill or cardiac arrest is one of the reports in this test. A person must be by the side of the treadmill during the entire testing process so that the treadmill can be turned off immediately in case of a fall. The person receiving the test must have passed the course of first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
Teach people, if they want to stop, to grab their side handles on the treadmill and place their feet on both sides of the treadmill roller with a simple jump to start the deceleration protocol. Normally, after completing the test, we should have the cooling protocol, that is, immediately after pressing the end of the test, you will enter the cooling protocol with a slope and low speed. So stop the treadmill only in case of emergency and in other cases stop after the treadmill cools down.
Note: Metalize software has ready protocols that you can use for testing.
Bruce Protocol vo2max
Important points in the implementation of the protocol
Analysis and evaluation
During the test, you may find some important data in the software.
HR: Heart Rate
VO2: Oxygen Volume
EE: Energy Expenditure
BF: Breathing Rate
VO2/kg: Oxygen Consumed per Kilogram of body weight
WR: Work rate
RER: Respiratory Exchange Rate
Also, after completing the test, a lot of data will be given to you in the form of a downloadable file that you can use based on your needs But, the most important data based on the current test is the maximum oxygen consumption of the athlete, which is reported for each kilogram of a person's weight and for each minute. Of course, we cannot consider a special formula for maximum oxygen consumption. But in general, the higher this number is, the higher the aerobic capacity and respiratory and cardiac fitness of the athlete in endurance activities. Of course, it is not possible to perform therapeutic analysis with this test. Additional tests with ECG during exercise are also needed for therapeutic analysis. This test is used for sports.
Warning: This test can be dangerous for people with cardiovascular problems. This test should be performed under the supervision of a sports physiologist.
Test Completion
At the end of the test, remove the mask from the person's face. Apply the mask for 3 minutes and wash off the mask immediately. Remove the heart rate belt from the athlete. The reports are stored in the system and can be retrieved and used at any time. Pay attention to registering in the software only once for each person, so that the future tests will be displayed in the profile of each person in the form of history.
If you have another test that day, even a few hours later, do not turn off the device. Otherwise, you can turn off the device. Note that the tubes connected to the sensors must be disconnected after the device is turned off.
Scientific and research aspects
This test must be done with high precision and by an expert.
Reliability
The highest level of reliability in the case of calibration is reported in this test.
Validity
This test is a direct method of measuring the maximum oxygen consumption and other tests evaluate their validity against the results of this test.
This test is an advanced laboratory test that is performed in sports science laboratories. In addition, many professional football teams perform this test in their clubs regularly so that the conditions of aerobic fitness of professional athletes are always measured and evaluated.
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Referencess
Book. Ultimate Sports Test, Alireza Amani
Alireza Amani, Ph.D. Sports Science.
