Use of the Versaclimber in Assessing Aerobic Fitness of Firefighters

Abstract

Treadmills are standard equipment to assess aerobic fitness of firefighters. The VersaClimber, which utilizes upper and lower body exercise simulating specific firefighting tasks, may also be an appropriate testing and training method for use by firefighters. To date, the VersaClimber has not been used to evaluate fitness of firefighters. PURPOSE: To determine if the VersaClimber provides an alternative exercise mode in assessing aerobic fitness of firefighters. METHODS: Fourteen healthy male firefighters (M ± SD), age = 39.4 ± 6.9 y, height = 177.4 ± 5.8 cm, weight = 83.0 ± 6.3 kg, and body fat = 14.1 ± 4.5% were tested for maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max), on a treadmill and VersaClimber to assess the validity of the VersaClimber protocol. The treadmill test followed the Gerkin Protocol. The VersaClimber protocol consisted of a 3 min warm-up followed by 2 min stages, starting at 18.3 m/min and increasing by 6.1 m/min per stage. Participants were instructed to maintain a 30 cm step height through 36.6 m/min, after which they self selected step height. Heart rate, ventilation, oxygen uptake, CO2 production, RER, walking/climbing distance, and RPE were recorded at regular intervals throughout each test. A regression analysis using body weight (WT) and exercise time (ET) was used to develop prediction equations that estimate VO2max. RESULTS: The prediction equation for estimating VO2max using the treadmill protocol was: VO2max = 46.277 - 0.335(WT) + 2.284(ET), R2=0.691, SEE=3.963 ml/kg/min, and the equation for the VersaClimber protocol was: VO2max = 60.528 - 0.514(WT) + 1.462(ET), R2=0.614, SEE=4.399 ml/kg/min. Results show that mean VersaClimber VO2max (48.1 ± 6.5 ml/kg/min) was significantly lower than the mean treadmill VO2max (51.1 ± 6.6 ml/kg/min). CONCLUSION: Findings indicate that the VersaClimber provides consistently lower (∼3%) VO2max results than the treadmill. We predict that average VO2max scores will increase with further training on the VersaClimber. This discrepancy between maximal scores does not rule out the VersaClimber from being a useful testing tool. The VersaClimber can evaluate success in job related tasks such as climbing hills or ladders. It can provide a valuable alternative assessment mode in assessing aerobic fitness of firefighters for tryouts or re-qualification examinations.