Rj. Moffatt et al., THE INFLUENCE OF VERBAL ENCOURAGEMENT DURING ASSESSMENT OF MAXIMAL OXYGEN-UPTAKE, Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, 34(1), 1994, pp. 45-49
This study examined the influence of verbal encouragement on the attai
nment of maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) for competitive runners (
n = 14) and untrained non-athletes (n = 14). Two maximal treadmill tes
ts were performed with verbal encouragement or no encouragement. VO2ma
x, respiratory exchange ratio (RER), heart rate, and blood lactate con
centration were determined. Encouragement resulted in significantly (p
< 0.05) higher values for VO2max (44.9v42.8 ml/kg . min-1), treadmill
run time (14.3v12.4 mins), RER (1.10 +/- 0.98), maximal heart rate (1
96.0v192.7 bpm) and blood lactate (110.5v93.7 mg/dl) for the untrained
subjects. VO2max, RER and maximal lactate values were not affected by
verbal encouragement for the competitive runners, however, treadmill
run times and maximal heart rate were significantly higher with encour
agement. These results suggest that attainment of VO2max is not depend
ent on external encouragement for highly trained competitive runners.
However, encouragement may be necessary to assure attainment Of VO2max
, for untrained non-athletes.