Assessing maximum oxygen uptake through a motor-cognitive reactive agility test in team ball sports athletes

Background Conventional laboratory and field tests often underestimate VO 2max and fail to reflect the reactive agility, multidirectional demands of team ball sports. This study examined whether a motor-cognitive Reactive Agility (RA) Test can elicit a true VO 2max response and serve as a sport-specific alternative for assessing VO 2max in team sport athletes. Method Fifty-three team ball sports athletes performed an exhaustive incremental treadmill test and a motor-cognitive RA Test. The RA Test was performed on the SKILLCOURT and contained four all-out reactive agility runs of 150 m with an intermittent break of 30 s. VO 2max was determined in both tests using a portable gas analyzer. Dependent t -tests, Blant-Altman analysis, concordance correlation coefficient (CCC), intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and correlation analyses were performed. Results The mean difference in VO 2max between the tests was 0.25 mL × kg −1 × min −1 (0.5%, p = 0.55) with upper and lower 95% limits of agreement at 6.02 (11%) and −5.53 (10%) mL × kg −1 × min −1 , respectively. CCC ( p c = 0.94), ICC (0.943) and correlation analysis ( r = 0.94) revealed a strong agreement and relation between VO 2max in the treadmill and RA Test. Conclusion The RA Test reliably elicits a true VO 2max response and offers a valid and more sport-specific option when compared to laboratory treadmill assessment for measuring VO 2max in team ball sport athletes.