Repeatability of measurements of oxygen consumption, heart rate and Borg's scale in men during ergometer cycling.

The coefficient of repeatability (COR), expressed as 2-SD of differences, was calculated between two measurements of oxygen consumption (V O2), heart rate (HR) and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) during ergometer cycling by men. The two sets of measurements were performed 5 to 6 weeks apart. Nineteen healthy men performed an incremental maximal exercise test on an ergometer cycle. The load started at 50 W and increased by 5 W 20 s-1 until exhaustion was reached. At 40% of the individual maximum load of the pretest, the load was kept constant for 4 min in order to reach steady state. Gas measurements were recorded continuously by computerized instrumentation. The HR was monitored with electrocardiography (ECG) and the perceived exertion was evaluated using Borg's scale. The COR of V O2 at sub-maximal load was 14% and at maximum load 11%. The values in absolute figures were 209 and 332 ml min-1. The corresponding COR of the HR was 16% at sub-maximum load and 6% at maximum load, and an evaluation of the perceived exertion yielded CORs in absolute values of 4.8 and 1.3, respectively. The COR for V O2, HR and ratings of perceived exertion when cycling on an ergometer cycle thus indicate a better agreement between the measurements at maximum load. The COR of the heart at sub-maximal loads must be kept in mind when using HR for estimation of V O2max. The reported findings should be considered when using tests on an ergometer cycle for evaluating exercise capacity.