VO2max prediction based on submaximal cardiorespiratory relationships and body composition in male runners and cyclists: a population study

  1. Szczepan Wiecha  Is a corresponding author
  2. Przemysław Seweryn Kasiak
  3. Piotr Szwed
  4. Tomasz Kowalski
  5. Igor Cieśliński
  6. Marek Postuła
  7. Andrzej Klusiewicz
  1. Jozef Pilsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw, Poland
  2. Medical University of Warsaw, Poland
  3. Institute of Sport-National Research Institute, Poland

Abstract

Backround: Oxygen uptake (VO2) is one of the most important measures of fitness and critical vital sign. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) is a valuable method of assessing fitness in sport and clinical settings. There is a lack of large studies on athletic populations to predict VO2max using somatic or submaximal CPET variables. Thus, this study aimed to: (1) derive prediction models for maximal VO2 (VO2max) based on submaximal exercise variables at anaerobic threshold (AT) or respiratory compensation point (RCP) or only somatic and (2) internally validate provided equations.

Methods: 4424 male endurance athletes (EA) underwent maximal symptom-limited CPET on a treadmill (n=3330) or cycle ergometer (n=1094). The cohort was randomly divided between: variables selection (nrunners=1998; ncyclist=656), model building (nrunners=666; ncyclist=219) and validation (nrunners=666; ncyclist=219). Random Forest was used to select the most significant variables. Models were derived and internally validated with Multiple Linear Regression.

Results: Runners were 36.24±8.45 yrs.; BMI=23.94±2.43 kg·m−2; VO2max=53.81±6.67 mL·min−1·kg−1. Cyclists were 37.33±9.13 yr.; BMI=24.34±2.63 kg·m−2; VO2max=51.74±7.99 mL·min−1·kg−1. VO2 at AT and RCP were the most contributing variables to exercise equations. Body mass and body fat had the highest impact on the somatic equation. Model performance for VO2max based on variables at AT was R2=0.81, at RCP was R2=0.91, at AT&RCP was R2=0.91 and for somatic-only was R2=0.43.

Conclusions: Derived prediction models were highly accurate and fairly replicable. Formulae allow for precise estimation of VO2max based on submaximal exercise performance or somatic variables. Presented models are applicable for sport and clinical settling. They are a valuable supplementary method for fitness practitioners to adjust individualised training recommendations.

Funding: No external funding was received for this work.

Data availability

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in the manuscript.

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Szczepan Wiecha

    Department of Physical Education and Health, Jozef Pilsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
    For correspondence
    szczepan.wiecha@awf.edu.pl
    Competing interests
    Szczepan Wiecha, received payment for leading CPET workshops at IX Małopolskich Warsztatach Niewydolności Serca. The author has no other competing interest to declare..
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-9458-557X
  2. Przemysław Seweryn Kasiak

    3rd Department of Internal Medicine and Cardiology, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-0303-6135
  3. Piotr Szwed

    Department of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
  4. Tomasz Kowalski

    Institute of Sport-National Research Institute, Warsaw, Poland
    Competing interests
    Tomasz Kowalski, has received funding from the Institute of Sport - National Research Institute. The author has received consulting fees for regular coaching and consulting work with private clients, Polish Triathlon Federation and The Triathlon Squad professional triathlon team. The author has no other competing interests to declare..
  5. Igor Cieśliński

    Department of Physical Education and Health, Jozef Pilsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
  6. Marek Postuła

    Department of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.
  7. Andrzej Klusiewicz

    Department of Physical Education and Health, Jozef Pilsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
    Competing interests
    No competing interests declared.

Funding

No external funding was received for this work

Ethics

Human subjects: The Institutional Review Board of the Bioethical Committee at the Medical University of Warsaw (AKBE/32/2021) has approved the study protocol. The regulations of the Declaration of Helsinki were met during all parts of the study. Each subject delivered written consent to undergo CPET and participate in the study

Copyright

© 2023, Wiecha et al.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

Metrics

  • 1,670
    views
  • 223
    downloads
  • 13
    citations

Views, downloads and citations are aggregated across all versions of this paper published by eLife.

Download links

A two-part list of links to download the article, or parts of the article, in various formats.

Downloads (link to download the article as PDF)

Open citations (links to open the citations from this article in various online reference manager services)

Cite this article (links to download the citations from this article in formats compatible with various reference manager tools)

  1. Szczepan Wiecha
  2. Przemysław Seweryn Kasiak
  3. Piotr Szwed
  4. Tomasz Kowalski
  5. Igor Cieśliński
  6. Marek Postuła
  7. Andrzej Klusiewicz
(2023)
VO2max prediction based on submaximal cardiorespiratory relationships and body composition in male runners and cyclists: a population study
eLife 12:e86291.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.86291

Share this article

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.86291

Further reading

    1. Immunology and Inflammation
    2. Medicine
    Haiyi Fei, Xiaowen Lu ... Lingling Jiang
    Research Article

    Preeclampsia (PE), a major cause of maternal and perinatal mortality with highly heterogeneous causes and symptoms, is usually complicated by gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). However, a comprehensive understanding of the immune microenvironment in the placenta of PE and the differences between PE and GDM is still lacking. In this study, cytometry by time of flight indicated that the frequencies of memory-like Th17 cells (CD45RACCR7+IL-17A+CD4+), memory-like CD8+ T cells (CD38+CXCR3CCR7+HeliosCD127CD8+) and pro-inflam Macs (CD206CD163CD38midCD107alowCD86midHLA-DRmidCD14+) were increased, while the frequencies of anti-inflam Macs (CD206+CD163CD86midCD33+HLA-DR+CD14+) and granulocyte myeloid-derived suppressor cells (gMDSCs, CD11b+CD15hiHLA-DRlow) were decreased in the placenta of PE compared with that of normal pregnancy (NP), but not in that of GDM or GDM&PE. The pro-inflam Macs were positively correlated with memory-like Th17 cells and memory-like CD8+ T cells but negatively correlated with gMDSCs. Single-cell RNA sequencing revealed that transferring the F4/80+CD206 pro-inflam Macs with a Folr2+Ccl7+Ccl8+C1qa+C1qb+C1qc+ phenotype from the uterus of PE mice to normal pregnant mice induced the production of memory-like IL-17a+Rora+Il1r1+TNF+Cxcr6+S100a4+CD44+ Th17 cells via IGF1–IGF1R, which contributed to the development and recurrence of PE. Pro-inflam Macs also induced the production of memory-like CD8+ T cells but inhibited the production of Ly6g+S100a8+S100a9+Retnlg+Wfdc21+ gMDSCs at the maternal–fetal interface, leading to PE-like symptoms in mice. In conclusion, this study revealed the PE-specific immune cell network, which was regulated by pro-inflam Macs, providing new ideas about the pathogenesis of PE.

    1. Medicine
    Gabriel O Heckerman, Eileen Tzng ... Adrienne Mueller
    Research Article

    Background: Several fields have described low reproducibility of scientific research and poor accessibility in research reporting practices. Although previous reports have investigated accessible reporting practices that lead to reproducible research in other fields, to date, no study has explored the extent of accessible and reproducible research practices in cardiovascular science literature.

    Methods: To study accessibility and reproducibility in cardiovascular research reporting, we screened 639 randomly selected articles published in 2019 in three top cardiovascular science publications: Circulation, the European Heart Journal, and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC). Of those 639 articles, 393 were empirical research articles. We screened each paper for accessible and reproducible research practices using a set of accessibility criteria including protocol, materials, data, and analysis script availability, as well as accessibility of the publication itself. We also quantified the consistency of open research practices within and across cardiovascular study types and journal formats.

    Results: We identified that fewer than 2% of cardiovascular research publications provide sufficient resources (materials, methods, data, and analysis scripts) to fully reproduce their studies. Of the 639 articles screened, 393 were empirical research studies for which reproducibility could be assessed using our protocol, as opposed to commentaries or reviews. After calculating an accessibility score as a measure of the extent to which an article makes its resources available, we also showed that the level of accessibility varies across study types with a score of 0.08 for Case Studies or Case Series and 0.39 for Clinical Trials (p = 5.500E-5) and across journals (0.19 through 0.34, p = 1.230E-2). We further showed that there are significant differences in which study types share which resources.

    Conclusion: Although the degree to which reproducible reporting practices are present in publications varies significantly across journals and study types, current cardiovascular science reports frequently do not provide sufficient materials, protocols, data, or analysis information to reproduce a study. In the future, having higher standards of accessibility mandated by either journals or funding bodies will help increase the reproducibility of cardiovascular research.

    Funding: Authors Gabriel Heckerman, Arely Campos-Melendez, and Chisomaga Ekwueme were supported by an NIH R25 grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (R25HL147666). Eileen Tzng was supported by an AHA Institutional Training Award fellowship (18UFEL33960207).