VO2 max testing by bike

Training Advice/Discussion General

14 years ago 12/03/2009 4:03pm EST

I got an interesting test result yesterday so thought it might provoke some discussion.

I did a VO2 max test on a bike and scored a 73, about 3 points higher than I did on a treadmill about a year ago. Does this mean I actually improved my capacity, or are the two methods not comparable?

I've heard some people think bikes underestimate VO2 max for runners. But can they ever over-estimate it? They had me bike at a low cadence (60 rpm) and they just kept increasing the resistance. I've heard that doing a treadmill test with increasing inclines is not a good way of getting valid numbers because it is easier to run harder uphill than to run harder on the flat. Would that apply to bikes also?

And yes, I know improving VO2 is just one aspect of actually running better times.

One other thing: my anaerobic threshold was 78% of my max, and I'm wondering if that's good or not.

14 years ago 12/03/2009 7:01pm EST

re: serious question.....

You don't mention if you ride a bike much during training or do other quad development exercises. That would make a difference in how hard you can push.

As for your running question: I would think that the increasing inclines on treadmills is more valid for what you are specifically trying to measure: VO2 max. (which is only to find out just how much oxygen you can consume per kilo of body weight). The number may mean less as far as transfering the info to predicting running performance based on some silly simplistic chart that was derived from flat measurements but that's a different can of worms.

The 78% threshold score on a bike is above average (which is about 60%) but most top cyclists score above 90.

14 years ago 12/03/2009 7:32pm EST

re: it all depends

I don't bike at all during training; a couple times a week I do squats with no weight as part of my warm-up, I guess that would hit the quads a little bit. I will say that during the test I hit muscular fatigue in the quads, might have been able to go harder if that hadn't happened.

14 years ago 12/03/2009 7:50pm EST

re: serious question....

Odd...most people are about 10% lower on the bike v treadmill.

Your leg strength may have had something to do with it.

Subjects usually have to stop due to local muscular fatigue during a bike Vo2max test due to the demand on the quads, unless they've done some cycling.

Alan

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