Effectiveness of a new constant workload cycle ergometer for assessing cardiopulmonary fitness

This report describes a new constant workload cycle ergometer (NCWCE) for assessing cardiopulmonary fitness. The special feature of the NCWCE is that it can adjust the resistance automatically according to the speed of the subject's pedaling to obtain a constant workload exercise test. The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability of the NCWCE compared with the standard Monark cycle ergometer (Monark CE) for performing a cardiopulmonary exercise test in healthy adults. Twenty healthy males (age range: 20-35 years; height: 175.5 +- 5cm; weight: 65.5 +- 7.6 kg) completed two YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association protocol) submaximal exercise tests separately on NCWCE and Monark CE. The maximal heart rate (HRmax) and the heart rate during the last 30 sec at each stage (HRstage) were measured to calculate the maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max) by using the ACSM metabolic equations. There was no significant difference in VO2max of stage 1 to stage 4. The Pearson Correlation Coefficient indicated that the VO2max of two cycle ergometers were highly consistent. These findings confirm that NCWCE represents an accurate and low-cost constant workload cycle ergometer for assessing cardiopulmonary exercise test.