Progressive Arm Cycling Ergometry With 3- And 5-Minute Stage Durations Yields Similar Estimates of Substrate Oxidation in Healthy Adults.

Arm cycling ergometry (ACE) leads to a lower maximal oxygen uptake (VOmax) than cycling which is related to a smaller active muscle mass. This study compared estimates of fat and carbohydrate oxidation (FOx and CHOOx) between progressive exercise protocols varying in stage duration in an attempt to create a standard exercise protocol for determining substrate metabolism using ACE. Four men and seven women (age = 24 ± 9 yr) unfamiliar with ACE completed incremental exercise to determine peak power output and VOpeak.