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The Prediction of Vo2max: A Comparison of 7 Indirect Tests of Aerobic Power

Article  in  The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research · November 1999

DOI: 10.1519/00124278-199911000-00008

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Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 1999, 13(4), 346–352
q 1999 National Strength & Conditioning Association
The Prediction of V̇O2max: A Comparison of 7
Indirect Tests of Aerobic Power
JOHN A. GRANT, AMY N. JOSEPH,
School of Health and Human Performance, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to compare the results of 7
commonly used indirect V̇O2max tests to those of a direct
V̇O2max test in a constant subject group. Thirty subjects (15
men, 15 women) that were 18 to 35 years old participated in
the study. All subjects performed the following tests in ran-
dom order: direct V̇O2max treadmill test; max Bruce and 85%
Bruce treadmill tests; Åstrand-Ryhming and heart rate ex-
trapolation cycle ergometer (CE) tests; Léger shuttle run; 1.5-
m run; and the Canadian Aerobic Fitness Test (CAFT) step
test. Within subjects, there were no significant differences
between the predicted V̇O2max values and the direct V̇O2max
values obtained (p # 0.05). For the women studied, all pre-
dictive tests except for the CAFT had a validity coefficient of
0.80 or greater to the direct V̇O2max test. For this reason, the
present study found 6 of the 7 predictive tests to be valid
for women 18 to 35 years old. Despite errors of ,10% in all
predictive tests except for the CAFT, validity coefficients
were low for the data from the men’s group, rendering it
inconclusive. Overall, for testing women, the maximal Bruce
treadmill test and the Åstrand-Ryhming CE test were found
to produce the least amount of error with the highest validity
coefficient.
Key Words: aerobic fitness, maximal oxygen consump-
tion, submaximal exercise test
Reference Data: Grant, J.A., A.N. Joseph, and P.D.
Campagna. The prediction of V̇O2max: A comparison
of 7 indirect tests of aerobic power. J. Strength Cond.
Res. 13(4):346–352. 1999.
Introduction
T he measurement of maximal oxygen consumption
(V̇O2max) is widely used for athletes and the gen-
eral public as a measure of aerobic fitness. For this
reason, there has been a great deal of research over the
years into developing standardized tests that can be
easily used by various populations.
Direct maximal tests involving the measurement of
expired gases are the most accurate. However, there
are many factors that inhibit the feasibility of direct
346
AND PHILIP D. CAMPAGNA
testing for the majority of the population. These in-
clude the availability and expense of equipment, the
time commitment involved, the requirement for sub-
jects to exercise to exhaustion, the need for trained per-
sonnel, and the fact that only 1 subject can be tested
at a time (3, 6, 24, 25). Consequently, numerous indi-
rect tests have been developed for use in everyday
populations. While these indirect tests are more acces-
sible to the general public, there are a number of un-
derlying assumptions that these tests rely on when
predicting V̇O2max. They include: (a) the linearity of
the heart rate–O2 consumption (work intensity) rela-
tionship, (b) prediction of maximal heart rate (220 2
age of subject [610 beats·min21]), (c) assumed constant
mechanical efficiency, and (d) the day-to-day variation
in heart rate (23). This reliance on an accurate heart
rate to power output and power output to oxygen con-
sumption relationship is a potential source of error
when using predictive tests of aerobic power.
There have been many studies comparing the di-
rect measurement of V̇O2max to indirect maximal and
submaximal measurements. The majority of studies
compare 1 or 2 indirect tests to a direct measurement
of V̇O2max. This study used a constant subject group
to compare the relationship between 7 commonly used
predictive (submaximal and maximal) tests and a di-
rect maximal measurement of V̇O2max to determine
which previously validated tests had the least amount
of error associated with them and the highest validity
coefficients. A major difference between indirect tests
is the method of prediction used. Predictions may be
based on exercise-induced heart rates, the amount of
work performed in a given time frame, or the rate of
work at the point of fatigue (3). Each method of pre-
diction has its own intrinsic errors that may influence
the accuracy of indirect testing.
One of the most popular submaximal tests is the
Åstrand-Ryhming submaximal cycle ergometer (CE)
test (5, 28). This test uses a steady-state exercise heart
rate at 1 submaximal power output as its method of
prediction. The standard error of this method may be

as high as 15% (28). Åstrand-Ryhming V̇O2max values
for sedentary people are usually underestimated
(probably because it was developed on active subjects),
and values for well-trained athletes are usually over-
predicted (28). This method has also been reported to
underpredict values for adult men by 21 to 27% (19,
30).
The Bruce maximal treadmill test, which uses time
to exhaustion as a method of prediction, has been
found to be accurate within 64 ml·kg21·min21 for
stages 1 to 4 (22). Pollock et al. (27) found that the
standard error of the method for this protocol was
only 3 ml·kg21·min21 within 61 SD.
Heart rate extrapolation protocols such as the
American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) (2) or
World Health Organization (WHO) (26) submaximal
CE tests use heart rate response to 3 or 4 increasing
submaximal power outputs as the method of predic-
tion. These tests have been found to overpredict
V̇O2max by 12% (34). There have not been many large-
scale studies on any specific protocols or on the heart
rate extrapolation method in general. Subsequently, no
normative data has been produced, and the tests have
not been validated. However, since these tests are easy
to administer and their submaximal termination bears
a lower health risk to the subject, they are commonly
chosen.
The Canadian Aerobic Fitness Test (CAFT) uses the
heart rate at the end of the final stage and the oxygen
cost of the last stage of stepping as its predictive mea-
sures (18). This test usually underpredicts V̇O2max in
women 20 to 30 years of age, well-trained, heavy, and
older individuals, but it accurately predicts V̇O2max in
unfit individuals (10, 32, 33).
The Léger 20-m shuttle run test (21) uses maximal
aerobic speed (MAS) as a method of prediction and
has been found to significantly underpredict V̇O2max
(1, 6). Léger’s original study found r 5 0.90 with a
standard error of measurement of 9.6% (4.7
ml·kg21·min21) (28); these values are within the 10%
error range that is generally expected for predictive
tests (23). The Cooper’s 1.5-mile maximal running test,
which uses time for a specific distance as its standard,
has been found to have a high degree of accuracy in
predicting V̇O2max by O’Donnell et al. (24) (men,
mean age 5 28 years old), Zwiren et al. (34) (women
30–39 years old) and George et al. (13) (men and wom-
en 18–29 years old).
The majority of previous research has compared
the results of a direct V̇O2max test to those obtained
on 1 or 2 indirect tests. The purpose of this study was
to compare 7 different common indirect tests of aero-
bic power to a direct V̇O2max test in order to deter-
mine which tests have the least amount of error asso-
ciated with them and which have the highest validity
coefficient. As the research literature indicates, there is
a wide variability in accuracy related to the various
Comparison of 7 Indirect Tests of Aerobic Power 347
indirect tests of aerobic power. It is hypothesized that
all of the predictive tests of aerobic power will be valid
for the group of healthy adults studied. By comparing
the results of 7 indirect tests on a constant subject
group to those of a direct test, this study is designed
to determine which of these tests are more accurate
predictors of V̇O2max.
Methods
Subject Selection
Fifteen men (24.7 6 5.1 years old, 78.8 6 11.0 kg, 179.6
6 8.7 cm) and 15 women (21.7 6 5.5 years old, 59.3
6 7.7 kg, 166.3 6 4.7 cm) between the ages of 18 and
35 years old volunteered to participate in the study.
Written informed consent was obtained, and the Phys-
ical Activity Readiness-Questionnaire screening form
was completed and signed by the participants prior to
the commencement of the study. Ethics approval for
this research was obtained from the School of Health
and Human Performance at Dalhousie University.
Testing Procedures
A single-factor repeated measures design was used to
test the stated hypothesis. Each subject performed 8
aerobic tests during 6 different sessions. The sessions
were at least 48 hours apart to allow for complete re-
covery. The time of day that testing occurred was rel-
atively constant within subjects. The 6 sessions were
administered in a randomized and balanced order
within a 3-week period to decrease the possibility of
any training effects from the first to the last test. The
3-week maximum time period for any 1 subject was
set in an attempt to decrease any error due to a train-
ing effect. The subjects were asked to follow the ‘‘Pre-
liminary Instructions for Participants’’ with regards to
food, beverage, exercise, etc. as outlined in the Cana-
dian Standardized Test Of Fitness Operations Manual
(9).
Volitional fatigue was used as the termination point
for the maximal predictive tests. A Polar Electro Van-
tage XL heart rate monitor (Polar, Port Washington,
NY) was used to display subject heart rates during all
tests except the Léger shuttle run and the Cooper’s 1.5
mile run.
The 6 sessions that were randomized and balanced
are described as follows.
Session A. This session consisted of an Åstrand-
Ryhming submaximal CE protocol (4, 5) and a maxi-
mal treadmill test with a direct measurement of oxy-
gen consumption. The Åstrand-Ryhming test was per-
formed first, followed by a 10-minute recovery period
before the commencement of the treadmill test. The
first 3 minutes of the treadmill test involved walking
at a pace of 5.0 km·hour21. This enabled all subjects to
become familiar with exercising on a treadmill.
The general protocol for the direct V̇O2max tread-
mill test was similar to that described by Poole (28).
348 Grant, Joseph, and Campagna
Subjects were verbally motivated to continue as long
as possible. Expired gases were collected and analyzed
every 30 seconds using a Beckman Metabolic Mea-
surement Cart (Beckman Instruments Inc., Schiller
Park, IL). O2 and CO2 analyzers were calibrated with
known gases before every test. Volume was calibrated
using a 1-L syringe according to the manufacturer’s
specifications. The expired gases were collected using
Hans Rudolph face masks (Hans Rudolph Inc., Kansas
City, MO). The face mask was used for the convenience
of communicating and comfort of the subjects. Because
of the variance in the shape of the subject’s face, special
care was taken to ensure that the mask selected fit
tightly to the face so that no air leaked through the
sides during the test. Subjects were determined to
have reached their V̇O2max if they presented at least 2
of the following: (a) a respiratory exchange ratio of
greater than 1.1, (b) a heart rate during the last exer-
cise stage that was 610 beats·min21 within the sub-
ject’s predicted maximum heart rate (220 2 age of sub-
ject), (c) a plateau (change of ,2.1 ml·kg21·min21) in
V̇O2 with an increase in work rate (29), or (d) volitional
fatigue.
Session B. This session consisted of an 85% sub-
maximal (26) and a maximal Bruce protocol treadmill
test (8). These tests were performed simultaneously;
the time to 85% maximum heart rate reserve (MHRR)
was recorded while the subject continued the test to
exhaustion. Maximal heart rate (MHR) was predicted
by calculating 220 2 age of subject. MHRR was deter-
mined using the Karvonen method of MHRR 5 (MHR
2 RHR) 3 0.85 1 RHR, where RHR is the subject’s
resting heart rate. The V̇O2max prediction equations
used were the following (28).
Men’s V̇O2max 5 3.88 1 0.056 3 D ml·kg21·min21.
Women’s V̇O2max 5 1.06 1 0.056 3 D ml·kg21·min21.
where D 5 duration of test in seconds.
For the 85% Bruce, the above calculations were per-
formed to determine the 85% V̇O2; this value was then
multiplied by 0.174. The resulting value was added to
the 85% V̇O2 value to determine the predicted
V̇O2maximum (16).
Session C. This session consisted of a modified ver-
sion (mWHO) of the submaximal heart rate extrapo-
lation CE protocol published by Pollock et al. (26). This
3-stage CE test was performed at 60 rpms instead of
the published 50 rpms. Zwiren et al. (34) found that
increasing the pedaling frequency to 60 rpms had little
effect on V̇O2. V̇O2max was determined by plotting
heart rates from the end of each stage against the re-
spective power output. This graph was then extrapo-
lated to the subject’s MHR. The predicted maximal
power output and V̇O2max could then be determined
by dropping a line from this intersection to the ab-
scissa.
Session D. This session consisted of the CAFT sub-
maximal step test (18). This test was administered as
per the protocol set out in the Canadian Standardized
Test of Fitness Manual (9) and used the following
equation.
V̇O2maximum (ml·kg21·min21) 5 42.5 1 (16.6 3 V̇O2)
2 (0.12 3 W) 2 (0.12 3 H) 2 (0.24 3 A),
where V̇O2 is the average oxygen cost of the last stage
of stepping (L·min21), W is the subject’s body weight
(kg), H is the heart rate after the final stage of stepping
(beats·min21), and A is the subject’s age (years).
Session E. The Léger 20-m multistage maximal
shuttle run test (21) was conducted in the university
fieldhouse on a rubberized concrete floor. The maxi-
mal aerobic speed (MAS) of the last completed stage
was entered into the following equation to determine
V̇O2maximum (20).
V̇O2maximum 5 227.4 3 (6 3 MAS).
Session F. Cooper’s 1.5-mile maximal run (11) was
conducted on a 260-m indoor rubberized concrete
track with the subjects wearing running shoes. The
time required to run the 1.5 miles was recorded and
entered into a regression equation developed from
data published by Heyward (16):
V̇O2maximum 5 89.39 2 (3.61 3 T),
where T 5 time in minutes to complete the test.
Statistical Analysis
Correlations were performed to determine the strength
of the relationship between the predictive tests and the
direct test. The correlations were performed on the
men’s group (n 5 15) and the women’s group (n 5 15).
One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to
compare the results of the 8 tests for significant dif-
ferences (p # 0.05). Standard error of estimate (SEE)
was calculated and used to determine the coefficients
of variation (CV) for each of the predictive tests
against the direct test (CV 5 100 3 [SEE/mean]) (7).
The coefficients of variation determined the amount of
error involved with each predictive test when attempt-
ing to predict the V̇O2max. The ANOVAs and CVs
were computed for the same groups as for the corre-
lations.
Results
The average results for the 8 specific tests of aerobic
power are listed in Figure 1 and Figure 2. As expected,
the values for men were higher than for women. There
were no significant differences found in either the men
or women when comparing the predictive tests to the
directly measured V̇O2maximum values.
Correlation coefficients were used to determine the
relationship between the predictive tests and the direct
test (Table 1). The r values for the women are greater
 Comparison of 7 Indirect Tests of Aerobic Power 349

Table 2. Coefficients of variation associated with 7 pre-

dictive tests of aerobic power.*

Test Men (%) Women (%)

Maximal Bruce treadmill test 8.8 7.4

85% Bruce treadmill test 8.1 11.9
Åstrand-Ryhming 9.2 6.9
Modified WHO 8.5 10.2
Léger shuttle run 9.4 9.2
1.5-mile run 9.0 9.1
Canadian Aerobic Fitness Test 11.0 16.2
Figure 1. V̇O2max men’s group values (mean 6 SD) for
the direct max treadmill test and 7 indirect tests of aerobic * CV 5 100 3 (SEE/mean).
power.

CAFT have errors of less than 10%. Despite the high

correlations in the women’s group, there was a greater
range in error values (6.9% 2 16.2%). Table 1 and Table
2 clearly show that the CAFT had the least relationship
with the direct maximum results and incurred the
most error of all the indirect tests when predicting
V̇O2max.

Discussion
The results of this study tend to agree with the find-
ings of previous research into the validity and inherent
Figure 2. V̇O2max women’s group values (mean 6 SD)
error of indirect tests to measure aerobic power. This
for the direct max treadmill test and 7 indirect tests of aer-
obic power.
study was unique in that previous research has not
compared the results of so many and such a wide va-
riety of indirect V̇O2max tests on the same group of
Table 1. Correlation coefficients between 7 predictive subjects.
tests and the direct V̇O2max test. The purpose of this study was to determine the
accuracy of the 7 indirect tests of aerobic power with
Test Men Women
respect to a direct V̇O2max measurement. A predictive
Maximal Bruce treadmill test 0.49* 0.92***
test is usually required to have a validity coefficient of
85% Bruce treadmill test 0.59** 0.82*** $0.80 to be considered valid (31). This would appear
Åstrand-Ryhming 0.40 0.92*** to pose a major problem with the men’s performance
Modified WHO 0.38 0.82*** on all 7 of the previously validated predictive tests of
Léger shuttle run 0.43 0.86*** aerobic power. A correlation range of 0.20 to 0.59 is
1.5-mile run 0.41 0.86*** well below the required 0.80. However, the same 7
Canadian Aerobic Fitness Test 0.20 0.64*** tests received validity coefficients of $0.80 for all tests
except the CAFT in the women studied. This can be
* p , 0.10. explained by examining the range of values in the 2
** p , 0.05. groups. The range of directly measured V̇O2max val-
*** p , 0.01.
ues is 15 ml·kg21·min21 (43.1 2 58.1 ml·kg21·min21) for
the men studied while the women had a much larger
than those found for the men. All correlations for the range of 26.3 ml·kg21·min21 (32.3 2 58.6 ml·kg21·min21).
women were found to be significant at the p , 0.01 Because the calculation of correlation coefficients de-
level. The maximum and 85% Bruce tests in the men pends on the variance and range of a group of scores,
were found to be significant at the p , 0.10 and p , any combination of less variance or range would result
0.05 levels, respectively. The remaining correlations in in poorer correlations than those of a more heteroge-
the men were not found to be significant. nous group. For this reason, it is probable that it was
The coefficients of variation for the predictive tests the homogeneity of the men that to some extent caused
were calculated to give an error value for each test the low correlations, not the fact that there is a lack of
(Table 2). Even though the correlations for the men a valid relationship between the direct and indirect
were low, the amount of error associated with each test tests. Because of this homogeneity, once the cause of
was also relatively low. All of the tests except for the the low correlations is recognized, it is more important
350 Grant, Joseph, and Campagna
to judge the validity of the indirect tests by the amount
of inherent error. When the percentage of error is re-
viewed, it can be seen that all the indirect tests except
the CAFT had less than 10% error in the prediction of
aerobic power for men 19 to 35 years old.
The original Bruce test consisted of only the first 4
stages and used a different regression equation for the
prediction of V̇O2max (27). Liang et al. (22) states that
the maximum Bruce test tends to overpredict V̇O2max
by 2.12 and 1.36 ml·kg21·min21 in stages 2 and 3 re-
spectively and underestimate it by 3.82 ml·kg21·min21
(8%) in stage 4. The amount of error present in stage
5 was not available from Liang et al. because their sub-
jects did not reach stage 5. In the present study, the
maximum Bruce test was found to have an error of
8.81% (4.8 ml·kg21·min21) for the men studied and an
error of 7.41% (3.7 ml·kg21·min21) for the women stud-
ied. These were, for the most part, an overprediction.
There were no available studies evaluating the 85%
Bruce. However, because only 2 out of 15 women and
11 out of 15 men passed stage 4, a comparison was
made to the Liang et al. (22) study. Liang et al. stated
that the SEE of the maximum Bruce test was 4.65
ml·kg21·min21. The SEE for the 85% Bruce test in the
present study was 4.4 and 4.9 ml·kg21·min21 for the
men and women, respectively. These values are very
similar to those of Liang et al. (22), therefore lending
support to the consistency of the Bruce test and its
submaximal version.
Previous studies by Hartung et al. (15) on active
women 19 to 47 years old (mean 5 31) and by Zwiren
et al. (34) on women 30 to 39 years old (mean 5 33)
found that the Åstrand-Ryhming submaximal CE test
significantly overpredicted V̇O2max by 8.5% (r 5 0.76)
and 13.1% (r 5 0.66), respectively, in adult women.
The present study (mean age of 21 years old) found
that the Åstrand-Ryhming test also overpredicted
V̇O2max in women by 6.9%, with a correlation of r 5
0.93. For these reasons, in comparison with previous
studies, the present study found the Åstrand-Ryhming
submaximal CE test to have a higher validity coeffi-
cient and to have less error associated with it for the
women studied. This improvement in correlation and
error scores may be due to the fact that the subjects in
the present study were closer to the age (18 to 30 years
old) of the subjects that were involved with the devel-
opment of the protocol (12). Despite the fact that
V̇O2max values measured on an inclined treadmill are
usually 5 to 15% higher than those obtained on a cycle
ergometer (12), the present study tends to agree with
Hartung et al. (15) in finding that the Åstrand-Rhym-
ing test overpredicts V̇O2max when compared to a di-
rect measurement on an inclined treadmill.
In another study by Kasch (19), it was found that
the age-corrected Åstrand-Ryhming test underpre-
dicted V̇O2max for 30–70-year-old men by 21% (r 5
0.58). Patton et al. (25) found that the Åstrand-Ryhm-
ing test had a correlation of r 5 0.78, with a direct
measurement of V̇O2max on a treadmill; however, the
age of the subjects was not reported. By comparison,
the present study found the Åstrand-Ryhming test to
have an overprediction error of 9.19%. The mean direct
V̇O2max of 50.1 ml·kg21·min21 found in the present
study agrees with Poole’s (28) conclusions that trained
individuals tend to be overpredicted by the Åstrand-
Ryhming test. Again, the amount of error in the pres-
ent study may be lower compared with the Kasch (19)
study due to the fact that the subjects were closer in
age to those of the subjects involved with the protocol
development (18 to 30 years old) (12).
As mentioned previously, there have not been
many studies to validate the heart rate extrapolation
method of submaximal aerobic power testing. This
may be due to the fact that there are so many protocol
variations in current use. A study by Zwiren et al. (34)
determined that the heart rate extrapolation method
overpredicted the direct measurement of V̇O2max on a
CE. With 30–39-year-old women, Zwiren et al. used a
2-stage test. The exact protocol, however, was not de-
scribed. The average V̇O2max predicted from the HR
extrapolation test was very similar to the average
V̇O2max as determined from a direct treadmill mea-
surement (41.7 vs. 41.3 ml·kg21·min21). No error value
or correlation was determined for this comparison. By
contrast, the present study found a 10.23% overpred-
iction error (47.7 ml·kg21·min21 vs. 45.3 ml·kg21·min21)
and a correlation of r 5 0.82 for the women studied.
The Léger 20-m shuttle run was developed as a
field test to test large groups of children and was later
validated for adults (21). A study by Berthoin et al. (6)
found that the Léger test did significantly underpre-
dict V̇O2max for college-aged individuals compared
with the overprediction found in the present study. In
their study of men and women university students
(mean 5 22 years old), Berthoin et al. found the av-
erage V̇O2max to be 51.1 6 5.9 ml·kg21·min21 for the
shuttle run and 56.8 6 7.1 ml·kg21·min21 for the direct
treadmill test. The present study found that the group
averages for the Léger shuttle run were approximately
equal to those of the direct maximum treadmill test
(for men, 50.8 vs. 50.1 ml·kg21·min21; for women, 44.8
vs. 45.3 ml·kg21·min21). Although the error values for
this indirect test of aerobic power were found to be
less than 10% for both men and women, these errors
cannot be designated as either underprediction or ov-
erprediction errors because there was an approximate-
ly equal number of subjects that were under- and ov-
erpredicted. The present study found the women stud-
ied to have an r value of 0.86, which is similar to that
found by Berthoin et al. (r 5 0.82). One possible source
of variance associated with this test is the intersubject
efficiency of turning at the end points. Even though
subjects were instructed to practice the pivoting tech-
nique before the test, the efficiency of pivoting during

higher speeds is likely to vary between subjects, caus-
ing a detrimental effect to the performance attained by
those subjects with less efficient pivoting abilities.
The 1.5-mile run was originally developed as a gen-
eral determinant of an individual’s overall cardiovas-
cular fitness level. The 1.5-mile run test is relatively sim-
ple to administer and has been found by some to ac-
curately predict V̇O2max (13, 24, 34). The accurate de-
termination of V̇O2max from this test requires the
subject to be highly motivated and to run at an efficient
pace. Likewise, because this is a maximal test, validity
also depends on a maximal effort by the subject. In a
study by O’Donnell et al. (24) of New Zealand army
personnel (men only), a higher correlation was found
between the 1.5-mile run and a direct measurement of
V̇O2max than between a 12-minute run and a direct
V̇O2max (r 5 0.83 vs. r 5 0.72). The present study found
the 1.5-mile run to overpredict V̇O2max in men by 9%
(55.1 ml·kg21·min21 vs. 50.1 ml·kg21·min21).
The present study also found a correlation of r 5
0.86 between the 1.5-mile run and direct V̇O2max for
women with a 9% error. This is in agreement with
Zwiren et al. (34), who found a 10% error in predicting
V̇O2max from a 1.5-mile run time in women 30 to 39
years old. The present study agrees with O’Donnell et
al. (24) in confirming that the 1.5-mile run may justi-
fiably predict V̇O2max and with Harrison et al. (14) in
that a field test, such as the 1.5-mile run, is a better
indirect method than step tests for predicting V̇O2max.
Based on the limited amount of equipment re-
quired, the number of subjects that can be tested at
once, and the wide range of populations that can be
tested (school children to athletes), the 1.5-mile run is
a valid and reliable test for use in a wide range of
groups (men and women 18–35 years old).
The CAFT has been shown to underpredict
V̇O2max in 20–30-year-old women, well-trained, heavy,
and older individuals (10). In 2 separate studies by
Jetté, the validity of the CAFT was found to be r 5
0.71 and r 5 0.90, respectively, when compared to the
results of a direct maximal treadmill test (17, 18). Wel-
ler et al. (32) found that the CAFT significantly under-
predicted V̇O2max in both men and women between
the ages of 15 and 69 years old when subjects were
treated as 1 group and divided by sex. The correlation
coefficient between a direct treadmill measurement
and the CAFT was r 5 0.83. The present study agrees
with Weller et al. in that the CAFT tended to under-
predict V̇O2max when compared to a direct V̇O2max
test. Although no significant differences were found,
the CAFT did underpredict V̇O2max in the women
studied by an average of 4.8 ml·kg21·min21, with a
moderate correlation of r 5 0.64. However, the error
for men and women was 11% and 16.24%, respectively,
and was the highest among all the indirect tests com-
pared in this study.
In summary, the present study found that, based
Comparison of 7 Indirect Tests of Aerobic Power 351
on correlation coefficients to a directly measured value
and coefficients of variation, the maximal and 85%
Bruce treadmill protocols, the Åstrand-Ryhming and
heart rate extrapolation CE protocols, the Léger 20-m
shuttle run, and Cooper’s 1.5-mile run are all valid
determinants of aerobic power in women ages 18 to
35 years. While the homogeneity of the men’s group
inhibited the validation of the results by correlation,
all of the previously mentioned tests were found to
have less than 10% error associated with them in pre-
dicting V̇O2max. The CAFT, in the form developed by
Jetté et al. (18) and used in the third edition of the
Canadian Standardized Test of Fitness (9), tended to
underpredict the V̇O2max of both the men and women
included in this study. A correlation of r 5 0.64 for
the women and errors of 11% and 16.24% for the men
and women, respectively, showed that this test is not
particularly valid for use in the population of this
study. For these reasons, this study supports the use
of the max and 85% Bruce treadmill protocols, the Ås-
trand-Ryhming and heart rate extrapolation cycle er-
gometer protocols, the Léger 20-m shuttle run, and
Cooper’s 1.5-mile run for predicting V̇O2max in
healthy women between the ages of 18 and 35. Test
selection should be based primarily on the mode of
training (running indoors vs. running outdoors vs. cy-
cling) and secondarily on equipment availability (both
for the initial and retest circumstances), group size,
and age. Because the American College of Sports Med-
icine has stated that submaximal testing is safe for
healthy individuals of all ages and that a physician’s
presence is not required, this study shows that there
are a number of options available for testing the aer-
obic power of these individuals. Because of the high
amount of inherent error and low validity correlations
found in this study, the CAFT is not recommended for
use with women 18 to 35 years old. The relatively low
error values and low correlations make the results for
men inconclusive. Further research with a larger, more
heterogenous sample is required to fully validate the
efficiency of these 7 indirect tests for use with a male
population.
Practical Applications
Researchers, personal trainers, and other health pro-
fessionals select various tests of aerobic power on a
regular basis for use with their subjects or clientele.
With the exception of researchers, most professionals
interested in determining an individual’s aerobic pow-
er are limited in their use of direct measurements for
the reasons stated previously. For this reason, these
professionals require the knowledge to properly
choose an indirect test that is specifically designed and
valid for each of their clients. This study was under-
taken to determine which previously validated tests
had the least error associated with them and had the
 352 Grant, Joseph, and Campagna
highest validity coefficient. Fitness professionals must
select protocols based on the specific modes and levels
of training of their clients, the safety of the protocol
with respect to the client, and the ability for test–retest
reliability. By providing information about the validity
and relative errors for a variety of indirect tests of aer-
obic power over a constant subject group, this study
should assist fitness professionals in confidently se-
lecting the appropriate protocol for use with their in-
dividual clients.
Current Address: John Grant is now at 840 9th St. S.W.,
1708, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2P 2T1.
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