CARDIORESPIRATORY VARIABLES DURING A CONTINUOUS RAMP EXERCISE PROTOCOL IN NORMAL YOUNG-ADULTS

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether the cardiore spiratory variables measured during an exercise test with a continuous ly increasing workload (ramp) protocol are reproducible and to compare them to the values obtained with a step-wide incremental (James) prot ocol. Twenty normal adolescents and young adults performed two exercis e tests on a cycle-ergometer, one with each protocol, and twelve of th ese subjects additionally performed a second identical ramp test. The results show that the cardiorespiratory variables measured during exer cise with ramp protocol are reproducible and that peak values are not different from those obtained with step-wise incremental exercise prot ocol, except for a higher peak power. At intermediate equivalent workl oads, there were significant correlations between cardiorespiratory va riables measured in steady-state conditions with the incremental proto col and those obtained in non-steady-state conditions with the ramp pr otocol.