Balke Treadmill Test

Testing and measurement are the means of collecting information upon which subsequent performance evaluations and decisions are made but in the analysis we need to bear in mind the factors that may influence the results.

Objective

To monitor the development of the athlete's general endurance (VO2max). It was originally developed by Hanson (1984) [1] to determine VO2max in cardiac patients.

Required Resources To undertake this test you will require: Treadmill Stopwatch Assistant

How to conduct the test

This test requires the athlete to run for as long as possible on a treadmill whose slope increments at timed intervals

• The athlete warms up for 10 minutes
• The slope of the treadmill is set to 0%, for active and sedentary men the speed is set to 3.3 mph (5.3 km/hr) and for active and sedentary women 3.0 mph (4.5 km/hr)
• The assistant gives the command “GO”, starts the stopwatch and the athlete commences the test
• The assistant adjusts the treadmill slope at the appropriate times as follows:
• For active and sedentary men the slope is set to 2% (1.2°) after 1 minute and then every minute thereafter the slope is increased by 1% (0.6°)
• For active and sedentary women the slope is increased by 2.5% (1.4°) every 3 minutes
• The assistant stops the stopwatch when the athlete is unable to continue and records the time - this ideally should be between 9 and 15 minutes

Convert treadmill slope

Assessment

Active and sedentary men - (Pollock et al. 1976) [2]

From the total time an estimate of the athlete's VO2max can be calculated as follows:

• VO2max = 1.444 × T +14.99

"T" is the total time of the test expressed in minutes and fractions of a minute e.g. 13 minutes 15 seconds = 13.25 minutes

Active and sedentary women - (Pollock et al. 1982) [3]

From the total time an estimate of the athlete's VO2max can be calculated as follows:

• VO2max = 1.38 × T + 5.22

"T" is the total time of the test expressed in minutes and fractions of a minute.

For an analysis of your VO2max score see the VO2max page.

Analysis

Analysis of the test result is by comparing it with the athlete's previous results for this test. It is expected that, with appropriate training between each test, the analysis would indicate an improvement in the athlete's VO2max.

Target Group

This test is suitable for active and sedentary individuals but not for those where the test would be contraindicated.

Reliability

Test reliability refers to the degree to which a test is consistent and stable in measuring what it is intended to measure. Reliability will depend upon how strict the test is conducted and the individual's level of motivation to perform the test. The following link provides a variety of factors that may influence the results and therefore the test reliability.

Validity

Test validity refers to the degree to which the test actually measures what it claims to measure and the extent to which inferences, conclusions, and decisions made on the basis of test scores are appropriate and meaningful. This test provides a means to monitor the effect of training on the athlete's physical development. There are published VO2max tables and the correlation to actual VO2max is high. For an assessment of your VO2max see the VO2max normative data tables.

Advantages

• Minimal equipment required
• Simple to set up and conduct

Disadvantages

• Specialist equipment required - treadmill
• Assistant required to administer the test

Free Calculator

• Balke Treadmill VO2max Calculator - a free Microsoft Excel spreadsheet which you can download and use on your computer.

Referenced Material

1. HANSON, P. (1984) Clinical Exercise Training. Sport Medicine, p. 13-40
2. POLLECK et al. (1976) Physiological response of med 49-65 years of age to endurance training. Journal of the American Geriatric Society 24, p. 97-104
3. POLLOCK et al. (1982) Comparative analysis of physiologic responses to three different maximal graded exercise test protocols in healthy women. American Heart Journal, 103 (3), p. 363-373

Page Reference

The reference for this page is:

• MACKENZIE, B. (2003) Balke Treadmill Test [WWW] Available from: http://www.brianmac.co.uk/balketread.htm [Accessed

Associated Pages

The following Sports Coach pages should be read in conjunction with this page:

• Articles on Performance Evaluation
• Evaluation and Performance Tests