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Int J Sports Med 2016; 37(03): 219-223
DOI: 10.1055/s-0035-1555928
Training & Testing
© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Reliability of Time to Exhaustion Treadmill Running as a Measure of Human Endurance Capacity

A. F. Alghannam
1   Department for Health, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
,
D. Jedrzejewski
1   Department for Health, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
,
M. Tweddle
1   Department for Health, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
,
H. Gribble
1   Department for Health, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
,
J. L. J. Bilzon
1   Department for Health, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
,
J. A. Betts
1   Department for Health, University of Bath, Bath, United Kingdom
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History



accepted after revision 23 June 2015

Publication Date:
15 December 2015 (online)

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Abstract

Little if any research has examined the variability in time to exhaustion (TTE) during submaximal treadmill running. This study investigated the test-retest reliability of submaximal treadmill TTE as a measure of endurance capacity. 16 endurance-trained males (n=14) and females (n=2) completed a run to exhaustion at 70% V̇O2max (T1) and repeated the same run 3 weeks later (T2). At 30-min intervals during each run, expired gas, heart rate (HR) and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) were collected. Mean±SD TTE was 96±20 min in T1 vs. 101±29 min in T2 (P=0.3). The mean±95% confidence intervals (CI) of the coefficient of variance (CV) was 5.4% (1.4–9.6). The average intraclass correlation coefficient (± 95% CI) was 0.88 (0.67–0.96) between trials. The respiratory-exchange ratio was not different between trials, T1: 0.87±0.1 and T2: 0.89±0.1 (P>0.05) and neither was total whole-body carbohydrate oxidation (2.1±0.4 g·min−1 and 2.3±0.6 g·min−1), fat oxidation (0.6±0.2 g·min−1), HR (178±8 and 175±7 beats·min−1) or RPE (17±3 and 16±3). These results suggest that use of prolonged treadmill-based TTE can be a reliable research tool to assess human endurance capacity in aerobically-trained men and women.

Key words

repeatability - reproducibility - prolonged exercise - fatigue
 

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