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Abstract

Treadmills that partially support body weight are increasingly being used in athletic rehabilitation settings. The cardiorespiratory response during this type of exercise has been reported in very few published studies. This study was designed to determine the cardiorespiratory response during three exercise intensities during standard treadmill exercise (ST) and body weight-supported treadmill exercise (BWST). In random order, a total of 10 healthy, 18-44 yr old adults (6 males, 4 females) performed BWST and ST trials. Identical exercise sessions were performed on each treadmill except 25% of body weight was supported during BWST exercise such that each participant carried 75% of true body weight. On each treadmill a two-minute warm up was performed at 2 mph and 0% grade, followed by 6 minutes of exercise at 3% grade at each of the following treadmill velocities: 3 mph, 4.5 mph, and 6 mph. Expired respiratory gases were analyzed each minute. Steady state heart rate, VO2, VCO2 and RER were calculated as the average value during the final three minutes of each 6 min exercise stage. Blood pressure and RPE were recorded during the final minute of each stage. A 2x3 repeated measures ANOVA was used to determine significant differences at the p2 between ST and BWST at 4.5 mph (2.14±.39 v 1.42±.27, p2 was significantly different at each exercise intensity and treadmill (ST v BWST: 16.0±1.1 v 13.6±1.2; 31.2±2.0 v 20.6±2.4; 39.8±1.9 v 25.8±2.9 ml∙kg-1∙min-1, p2 between the ST and BWST at 4.5 mph (2.10±.43 v 1.32±.26 L/min, p

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