Reliability of the mobile App to measure aerobic training parameters during maximum incremental treadmill test

Background Mobile Applications (App) have reshaped approaches to the intervention and monitoring of physical training. The Safe Runner App is an example. However, evidence of the reliability of the Safe Runner App to obtain aerobic parameters still needs to be investigated.AimsThe present study aimed to analyze the accuracy and reproducibility of power parameters and aerobic capacity derived from incremental testing on a treadmill using an application for mobile devices.Methods Twenty participants performed a maximum incremental test and retest. Maximum oxygen consumption (VO2MAX), maximum heart rate (HRMAX), maximum velocity (V-MAX), anaerobic threshold heart rate (HRAT), and anaerobic threshold velocity (V-AT) were estimated. A two-way ANOVA was used for dependent samples or the Friedman test for non-parametric data, and effect size (Cohens-d), intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and Bland-Altman were used to verify reliability.Results No differences between the test and retest (p > 0.05) were observed for all variables assessed. The variables VO2MAX (d = 0.05), HRMAX (d = 0.01), and V-MAX (d = 0.05) showed a trivial effect size, while HRAT (d = 0.11) and V-AT (d = 0.16) showed to be trivial/low. The ICC values for VO2MAX (0.996), HRMAX (0.955), HRAT (0.939), V-MAX (0.996), and V-AT (0.913) demonstrated reliability. The Bland-Altman plots demonstrated an agreement of the variables. The variables VO2MAX, HRAT, and V-AT were identical when comparing the Safe Runner App and Excel software.Conclusion The Safe Runner App is reliable in identifying aerobic training parameters.