Peak oxygen consumption and ventilatory thresholds on six modes of exercise

In order to compare responses on six modes of exercise for maximal oxygen consumption (VO2peak) and ventilatory thresholds (VT-1, VT-2), 10 male recreational exercisers (23 +/- 3 yrs) completed incremental maximal tests on treadmill, stationary skier, shuffle skier, stepper, stationary cycle, and rower. After extensive habituation, VO2peak, VT-1, and VT-2 were determined during each maximal bout. A MANOVA followed by ANOVAs, Tukey post hoc tests, and noncentral F tests indicated that the treadmill elicited a significantly higher peak oxygen consumption than did the other modes, and the skier and stepper values were higher than the rower. VO2 at VT-1 was higher on the treadmill than cycle. The treadmill also elicited a higher VO2 at VT-2 than the shuffle skier, cycle, and rower. However, no differences were observed among modes for VT-1 and VT-2 when expressed as a percentage of VO2peak. These results suggest that the treadmill elicits a higher aerobic capacity measure than other modes, but the ventilatory threshold responses (% VO2peak) are similar among modes.