User:CFCF/sandbox/Astrand test

The Åstrand, Astrand test or Astrand bicycle test is a bicycle ergometry test designed to give a rough indication of VO2 max or maximal oxygen uptake in athletes and lay-persons. It is a sub-maximal test and requires the test-person to ride a stationary bicycle with set resistance frequency, while monitoring heart-rate. The aim is to use correlation between these factors to estimate VO2-max. The test was designed by the swedish exercise physiologist Per-Olof Åstrand at the Swedish institute Gymnastik- och idrottshögskolan (GIH).

The test was created and normalizing using to an array of students at the swedish school of exercise science who would then be measured for VO2-max using conventional calorimetry. The test is not always useful on an individual by individual basis, among other reasons because it does not account for differences in maximal heart rate between individuals. Early tests and tables are normalized after cycling at 50 RPM, but this speed has often subsequently been replaced by testing at 60 RPM, which is considered an easier pace to keep over the 6 minutes of the test.

Similar designs
The Ekblom-bak test is similar in scope to the Åstrand test, and in some regards is designed to replace the Åstrand test. By measuring differences between low level resistance and high resistance it aims to get rid of some of the interfering variables of the Åstrand test.