ORIGINAL ARTICLE Linda M. LeMura á Serge P. von Duvillard Steven L. Cohen á Connie J. Root á Sara A. Chelland Joseph Andreacci á John Hoover á Jay Weatherford Treadmill and cycle ergometry testing in 5- to 6-year-old children Accepted: 2 April 2001 / Published online: 28 June 2001 Ó Springer-Verlag 2001 Abstract The primary purpose of this study was to de- termine the maximal cardiorespiratory responses of 48, 5- to 6-year-old children 24 girls and 24 boys), who were tested on a treadmill TM) and an electronically braked cycle ergometer CE). We also examined the percentage of boys and girls who were able to achieve the criteria for reaching maximal oxygen consumption  _ V O 2max ) on each testing mode. After an orientation period, each child was tested twice once on the TM and once on the CE), with an interval of 1 week between tests. _ V O 2max was measured during progressive, all out, continuous TM and CE tests using standardized procedures. A 2´2 analysis of variance test gender´exercise mode) with Bonferroni adjustment revealed the following: 1) there were no gender dierences in any of the measured de- pendent variables, 2) the children produced a signi®- cantly higher relative _ V O 2max mlákg ±1 ámin ±1 ) and a higher absolute _ V O 2max lámin ±1 ) on the TM than on the CE P<0.001), 3) the children produced a higher heart rate on the TM than on the CE P<0.001), 4) the CE generated signi®cantly higher values for respiratory ex- change ratio P<0.001), 5) the criteria necessary to establish a maximal exercise eort were achieved on both the TM and the CE, and 6) all of the children reached two of the criteria associated with a maximal eort, while only 46% of the children reached three criterion measures. There were no signi®cant dierences in the attainment of criterion measures between the TM and the CE. The results of this study indicate a lack of gender dierences in maximal exercise testing in 5- to 6- year-old children, and that both the CE and the TM are eective modes of maximal cardiorespiratory testing in this age group. Keywords Aerobic ®tness á Children á Exercise testing á Oxygen uptake á Gender Introduction Maximal exercise testing stresses the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems, allowing: 1) evaluation of the functional limits of these systems and the detection of abnormalities not apparent at rest, 2) measurement of the impact of ®tness programs, 3) comparison of the health of various populations, and 4) the prediction of submaximal workloads for steady-state exercise testing. The current approach to pediatric exercise testing has emerged from testing procedures utilized for adults in both research and clinical settings Rowland 1993a). As a result, the quintessential ®tness index derived from the maximal exercise test, maximal oxygen consumption  _ V O 2max ), is routinely compared across studies in pedi- atric exercise physiology literature in a manner similar to comparative analyses conducted in adult studies. These comparisons are made in pediatric research despite the use of dierent modes of exercise during testing, for example the treadmill TM) and the cycle ergometer CE), and the paucity of well-controlled studies of gen- der in¯uences. Each of these factors has been identi®ed independently and collectively as potential modi®ers of the maximal pediatric exercise test Krahenbuhl et al. 1978; Rowland 1993a; Tomassoni 1993). Eur J Appl Physiol 2001) 85: 472±478 DOI 10.1007/s004210100461 S.P. von Duvillard &) Human Performance Laboratory, Department of Physical Education and Exercise Science, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58201, USA E-mail: serge_vonduvillard@und.nodak.edu Tel.: +1-701-7774351 Fax: +1-701-7773531 L.M. LeMura á C.J. Root á S.A. Chelland á J. Andreacci The Exercise Physiology Laboratory, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, USA S.L. Cohen Department of Psychology, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, USA J. Hoover Bureau of Educational Services and Applied Research, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota, USA J. Weatherford SensorMedics Corporation, Yorba Linda, California, USA