To propose a new Cardiopulmonary Exercise Test with Elastic Resistance (CPxEL) and compare the physiological responses to conventional cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPx) performed on a treadmill. In addition, we tested the reproducibility of the CPxEL. Twenty-four physically active participants completed the CPx (first session) and CPxEL twice (second and third sessions) interspersed by seven days. A treadmill protocol with increments of 1km·h-1 every minute until exhaustion was used in CPx. The CPxEL consisted of performing alternating steps back-and-forth against an elastic resistance attached to a belt and an incremental protocol with 1 stage (S) per minute following a cadence of 200 bpm controlled by a metronome in an 8-stage rubber mat. First analysis: first ventilatory threshold (VT1) occurred at 69.7% and 75.3% of maximal heart rate (HRmax) and 53.5% and 65.7% of maximal oxygen consumption (V̇O2max). Second VT (VT2) occurred at 93.3% and 96.8% of the HRmax and 87.0% and 96.9% of V̇O2max for CPx and CPxEL, respectively. At exhaustion, V̇O2max, perceived exertion (BORG-CR10 and OMNI-RES EB), and test duration presented lower values for CPxEL (P < 0.05). Second analysis: VT1 occurred at warm-up (S0) (P = 0.731), VT2 occurred at S5 (P = 0.912), and the exhaustion occurred at S6 and S7 (P = 0.271) for CPxEL and retest, respectively. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) for V̇O2max was 0.921 and for HRmax was 0.930. The CPxEL has good test-retest reproducibility and represents a possible and interesting add-on to determine maximal oxygen consumption, maximal heart rate, and second ventilatory threshold without using traditional ergometers.

This study aims to analyze the agreement and precision between heart rate variability thresholds (HRVT1/2) with ventilatory and lactate thresholds 1 and 2 (VT1/2 and LT1/2) on a treadmill. Thirty-four male students were recruited. Day 1 consisted of conducting a health survey, anthropometrics, and Cardiopulmonary Exercise Test (CPx). On Day 2, after 48 h, a second incremental test was performed, the Cardiopulmonary Stepwise Exercise Test consisting of 3 min stages (CPxS), to determine VT1/2, LT1/2, and HRVT1/2. One-way repeated-measures ANOVA and effect size (ηp2) were used, followed by Sidak’s post hoc. The Coefficient of Variation (CV) and Typical Error (TE) were applied to verify the precision. Bland Altman and the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) were applied to confirm the agreement. HRVT1 showed different values compared to LT1 (lactate, RER, and R-R interval) and VT1 (V̇E, RER, V̇CO2, and HR). No differences were found in threshold 2 (T2) between LT2, VT2, and HRVT2. No difference was found in speed and V̇O2 for T1 and T2. The precision was low to T1 (CV > 12% and TE > 10%) and good to T2 (CV < 12% and TE < 10%). The agreement was good to fair in threshold 1 (VT1, LT1, HRVT1) and excellent to good in T2 (VT1, LT1, HRVT1). HRVT1 is not a valid method (low precision) when using this protocol to estimate LT1 and VT1. However, HRVT2 is a valid and noninvasive method that can estimate LT2 and VT2, showing good agreement and precision in healthy adults.

This study aims to describe and compare cardiopulmonary and subjective responses during high-intensity interval training with elastic resistance (EL-HIIT) and traditional high-intensity interval training (HIIT) sessions. Twenty-two healthy adults (27.6 ± 4.4 years) performed an EL-HIIT and a HIIT protocol consisting of 10 × 1 min at ~85% V·O2max prescribed by cardiopulmonary-specific tests. Pulmonary parameters, heart rate (HR), blood lactate, and rate of perceived exertion (RPE) were measured during exercise. Paired t-test and Cohen’s d effect size were used to compare peak and average values. Two-way repeated measures ANOVA and mixed model with Bonferroni’s post hoc test were used to compare each bout during the session. The EL-HIIT session showed higher peak and average values of HR, ventilation (V·E), relative and absolute oxygen uptake (V·O2), carbon dioxide production (V·CO2), and RPE than HIIT (p < 0.05). The effect size (ES) comparing HIIT and EL-HIIT was large for HR, V·E, and lactate (≥0.8) in peak values. Comparing each bout between HIIT and EL-HIIT, no difference was found in peak values (p > 0.05) during the session (excluding baseline, warm-up, and recovery). EL-HIIT presented a more pronounced cardiopulmonary and subjective response than HIIT.

Introdução: Está estabelecido que o treinamento aeróbio contínuo reduz a PA no pós-esforço, conhecido como hipotensão pós-exercício. Ergômetros tradicionais como esteiras e cicloergômetros são comumente utilizados como meio de treinamento. Eles são caros e isso limita o acesso à população em geral. Uma alternativa é o uso da corrida com resistência elástica. Entretanto não se sabe se a aplicação de uma sessão de treinamento intervalado de alta intensidade, com resistência elástica, apresenta respostas hemodinâmicas agudas favoráveis pós-exercício. Objetivo: Descrever e comparar as respostas hemodinâmicas na recuperação de uma sessão de treinamento intervalado realizada na esteira e a com resistência elástica realizadas na mesma intensidade. Métodos: Quatro adultos (24,25 ± 2,75 anos) saudáveis executaram uma sessão de treinamento intervalado de alta intensidade na esteira ergométrica e outra sessão com resistência elástica a 85% do VO2máx, com intervalo entre eles de uma semana e uma situação controle. Antes e após as sessões, foram monitoradas as variáveis hemodinâmicas por 60 minutos: pressão arterial sistólica, pressão arterial diastólica, frequência cardíaca, volume sistólico, débito cardíaco e resistência vascular periférica monitorados por fotopletismografia por infravermelho (Finometer). Resultados: O treinamento intervalado com resistência elástica apresentou resposta hemodinâmica aguda significativa com a queda da pressão arterial sistólica e da resistência vascular periférica em relação ao dia controle. Comparando os protocolos, apenas a resistência elástica causou hipotensão pós-exercício (p < 0,05), por até 40 minutos. Conclusão: O protocolo com resistência elástica promoveu hipotensão pós-exercício com queda da pressão arterial sistólica acompanhada de redução da resistência vascular periférica.

We aimed to analyze the influence of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) on ventilatory threshold identification (VT1) using the Ventilatory Equivalents (VEq) and V-slope methods. Twenty-two male runners (32.9 ± 9.4 years) were divided into two groups: G1 - group with less cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF: VO2max 40 to 51 ml·kg-1·min-1) and G2 - higher CRF (G1; VO2max £56,4 to 72 ml·kg-1·min-1) divided by the 50th percentile. An incremental cardiopulmonary exercise test was applied to identify VT1 using VEq and V-slope methods to compare heart rate (HR), oxygen consumption (VO2), and speed. Two-way ANOVA was used to compare HR, VO2, and speed (groups vs. methods). The Effect size was calculated using Cohen’s d. The intraclass correlation coefficient, variation coefficient, typical error, and Bland Altman were applied to verify reliability and agreement. No significant differences (p < 0.05) were found between methods for G1 (VO2, HR, and speed), and Bland Altman showed good agreement (mean difference: VO2 0.35ml·kg-1·min-1; HR 2.58bpm; speed 0.33km·h-1). However, G2 presented statistical differences between methods (VO2 and speed) and a more significant mean difference (VO2 2.68ml·kg-1·min-1; HR 6.87 bpm; speed 0.88km·h-1). The small effect size was found in G1 between methods (VO2: 0.06; speed: 0.20; HR: 0.14), and small and moderate effects were found in G2 between methods (VO2: 0.39; speed: 0.43; HR: 0.51). In conclusion, runners with lower CRF have a better agreement for the V-slope and VEq methods than those with a higher CRF.