The validity of three indirect methods of measuring oxygen uptake and physical fitness

The validity coefficient of Astrand's and von Döbeln's indirect methods for estimating maximal oxygen uptake and physical fitness was calculated using 48 Finnish men between the ages of 30 and 40 years. The criterion for the former was the directly measured maximal oxygen uptake, and for the latter Ismail's test battery No. 3 was used. Similarly the validity coefficient of the serum lactate concentration in submaximal work was determined. Also an attempt was made to study the effect of adding the lactate concentration to the prediction functions of Astrand and von Döbeln. It was found that the validity of these two methods, as expressed by the correlation coefficient, was higher when compared with the Ismail test battery than when compared with the directly measured maximal oxygen uptake. The coefficient values between the predictions and Ismail's test battery No. 3 were .844 for Astrand and .793 for von Döbeln. When the serum lactate was included in von Dibeln's formula, the prediction of the Ismail measure resulted in a significant improvement, at a p level of <.05, over the value obtained by von Döbeln's formula alone.