Prediction of the metabolic cost of exercise from measurements during recovery.

This study was designed to determine if post exercise recovery measurements could be used to predict oxygen uptake (VO2), minute ventilation (VE) and heart rates (HR) during exercise. VO2, VE and HR were measured in 11 healthy males during the last minute of treadmill running and during standing recovery. Since it is often impractical to collect data during the first 15 s of recovery in the field, the equations which best predicted the observed last-minute exercise values were obtained from enhanced linear least squares regressions of data collected between 15 and 60 s after cessation of exercise. In a separate validation experiment the mean (S.E.) difference between predicted and observed values for VO2, VE, and HR were 0.08 (0.06) L.min-1, 1.0 (5.1) L.min-1, and 2.2 (1.4) beats.min-1, respectively. We conclude that the equations described in this study may be used to estimate the metabolic cost of exercise in situations where it is impossible to make direct measurements.