Visual Determination of the Fast Component of Excessive Oxygen Uptake After Exercise

The objective of this study was to analyze the validity, reproducibility and objectivity of the visual inspection method during the identification of the fast component of excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC(FAST)). Ten healthy physically active men (age = 23.0 + 4.0 years; height = 176.4 + 6.8 cm; body mass = 72.4 + 8.2 kg; VO(2MAX) = 3.0 + 0.5 L.min(-1)) performed a maximal incremental exercise and a constant workload test until exhaustion corresponding to 110% of maximal workload reached during the maximal incremental exercise. Oxygen consumption was measured breath-by-breath for 10 minutes during the passive recovery after the constant workload test. EPOC(FAST) was mathematically and visually determined by three evaluators. Double visual determination of EPOC(FAST) was carried out by each evaluator for reproducibility determination. There were no significant differences between EPOC(FAST) values obtained by mathematical (0.98 +/- 0.45 L) or visual method (1.04 +/- 0.45 L; 1.02 +/- 0.45 L and 1.02 +/- 0.45 L). None significant difference was found between the first and second visual assessment carried out by the evaluators (evaluator 1: 1.04 +/- 0.45 L vs 1.04 +/- 0.49 L; evaluator 2: 1.02 +/- 0.45 L vs 1.01 +/- 0.44 L and evaluator 3: 1.02 +/- 0.45 L vs 1.03 +/- 0.47 L). Finally, coefficient of intra-class correlation between determinations was high for all evaluators (ICC from 0.97 to 0.99). These results suggest that the visual method is valid, objective and reproducible for determination of the EPOC(FAST).