The effect of limited handrail support on total treadmill time and the prediction of VO2 max.

Holding onto the front handrail during treadmill testing significantly increases total treadmill time (TT) and predicted VO2max when compared with tests without front handrail support. By limiting the amount of handrail support to the tips of two fingers of one hand, the difference in TT can be substantially reduced. In the present study, the difference in TT between tests with and without handrail support for healthy men was not significantly different. However, this was not true for healthy women and for male patients with coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction.