VO2Max - Cycle Ergometer vs. Treadmill

There certainly is. In general, treadmill running will elict a VO2 max level 6-12% higher than on a cycle ergometer due to the larger amount of total active muscle mass on the treadmill. An exception being for elite cyclists, whose VO2 max's will be higher on the bike.

fletch

There certainly is. In general, treadmill running will elict a VO2 max level 6-12% higher than on a cycle ergometer due to the larger amount of total active muscle mass on the treadmill. An exception being for elite cyclists, whose VO2 max's will be higher on the bike.

fletch

FLetch - how does muscle mass impact VO2 max?

Biscuit wrote:

Is there any difference in VO2 max results if the facility uses a treadmill to test or uses a exercise cycle ergometer to test?

If you take a trained cyclist and have them do both, the values will be similar.

If you take a runner or someone with little training, the treadmill test will yield a higher VO2max. Cycling tends to lead to local fatigue before central fatigue--that is, the legs give out before the heart and lungs will. Also, the treadmill recruits a little more muscle mass and you have to support the weight of your body.

Triathletes will be close on each one since they train on both.

As for a %, I am not aware of any good guide. I think it would be foolish to say that if you got 50 ml/kg/min on a bike that you would could predict what you would get on a treadmill test.

What is a good VO2 max? I scored a 55 on a recent test using a cycle ergometer. I do triathlons. All charts I see are based on sedentary lifestyle.

College age males score around 42-45.

World Cup triathletes would be about 70 and up.

Prefontaine: 84.4

Shorter something like 70 (I do not have the paper at work).

VO2max is just one piece of the puzzle. Velocity or power at lactate threshold is a good predictor of endurance performance. Economy (the oxygen cost of a given pace or power) is another factor. All are trainable.