Submaximal Exercise Testing Treadmill and Floor Walking

摘要

Exercise testing has been used as the basis for exercise prescriptions for a variety of patients. Exercise tests are performed using standardized ergometers such as a treadmill, bicycle, or steps. There have been, however, several drawbacks to these ergometers which limit their clinical utility. Tests performed on the treadmill have been equated to floor walking, although this has not been conclusively proven. The purposes of this study, therefore, were to examine the validity of using level walking as a submaximal exercise test, and to compare the energy cost of level treadmill and floor walking. Thirty male subjects walked over three modes of level walking. Oxygen uptake and heart rate values were determined at each walking velocity for each mode. Multiple regression analysis of MAP versus the heart rates associated with the walking velocities demonstrated a reasonably accurate method of predicting MAP. Level walking, therefore, may have possibilities as a submaximal exercise test. Analysis of variance of the linear regression of oxygen uptake versus the square of the walking velocity demonstrated similar slopes and intercepts for circular and treadmill walking, but a significant difference between these two modes and segmental walking.