| Gender | Male Female |
| Total Running Time (minutes) |
The Bruce Protocol Treadmill Test can be used to approximate VO 2 max, which is a measure of fitness, expressed in mL O 2 consumed/kg body weight/minute. This protocol has 10 stages, with each stage lasting 3 minutes and increasing both speed and slope with each successive stage.
The length of time a subject is able to continue with this protocol before exhaustion allows prediction of VO2 max from formulas derived by Foster and Pollock in the 1980s.
|
Stage |
Time (min) |
Speed(mph/kmh) |
Slope (%) |
|
1 |
0 |
1.7/2.7 |
10 |
|
2 |
3 |
2.5/4.0 |
12 |
|
3 |
6 |
3.4/5.5 |
14 |
|
4 |
9 |
4.2/6.8 |
16 |
|
5 |
12 |
5.0/8.1 |
18 |
|
6 |
15 |
5.5/8.9 |
20 |
|
7 |
18 |
6.0/9.7 |
22 |
|
8 |
21 |
6.5/10.5 |
24 |
|
9 |
24 |
7.0/11.3 |
26 |
|
10 |
27 |
7.5/12.1 |
28 |
|
mph=miles per hour kmh=kilometers per hour |
|||
The formula for men is:
VO 2 max = 14.8 - (1.379 × T) + (0.451 × T²) - (0.012 × T³)
"T" is the total time of the test expressed in minutes and fractions of a minute e.g. 13 minutes 15 seconds = 13.25 minutes
The formula for women is:
VO 2 max = 4.38 × T - 3.9
"T" is the total time of the test expressed in minutes and fractions of a minute.
Ideal VO
2
max scores for various sports:
|
VO 2 max |
Sport |
|
>75 ml/kg/min |
Endurance Runners and Cyclists |
|
65 ml/kg/min |
Squash |
|
60-65 ml/kg/min |
Football (male) |
|
55 ml/kg/min |
Rugby |
|
50 ml/kg/min |
Volleyball (female) |
|
50 ml/kg/min |
Baseball (male) |
References:
Foster C, et al. Generalized equations for predicting functional capacity from treadmill performance. Am Heart J. 1984 Jun;107(6):1229-34.
Pollock ML, et al. Comparative analysis of physiologic responses to three different maximal graded exercise test protocols in healthy women. Am Heart J. 1982 Mar;103(3):363-73.