[Energy requirements in women during pedalling on a bicycle ergometer]

The bicycle ergometer is the most frequently used equipment for loading tests for the purpose of functional diagnosis and for the purpose of locomotor rehabilitation. The energy required to meet this locomotor activity is within a wide range of load intensities which depends linearily on the intensity of pedalling. The steepness of this linear relationship which characterizes the degree of adaptation of the organism to this type of locomotor activity is the smaller the more the investigated subjects are adapted to the load. In general it depends on the degree of training, age, sex, strength, pedalling frequency, on the load protocol and on the biomechanical conditions during pedalling (e.g. the height of the saddle). Based on our measurements in a group of untrained women of different age and in trained women of different age it can be demonstrated that all individual relations between energy characterized by means of VO2 and the intensity of the load - P is within the zone where the upper borderline is formed by the equation VO2(ml) = 11.00.P (W) + 403 and the lower borderline by VO2(ml) = 9.90.P (W) + 252. The basic relationship, independent on the degree of training, age and strength, valid in the zone of pedalling frequencies of 60-80 rot. min-1 and in the zone of load intensities of 75-325 W has the shape of VO2(ml) = 10.60.P(W) + 269. The maximum error of assessment of VO2 by means of the load intensity is 9% or less.