COMPARISON OF TREADMILL VERSUS CYCLE ERGOMETER TRAINING ON FUNCTIONAL EXERCISE CAPACITY IN NORMAL INDIVIDUALS

Background : There is an increasing awareness among the people about fitness and health. The bicycle ergometer and treadmill are the commonest forms of indoor aerobic exercises. Motor driven treadmill exercise is similar to walking or jogging or running depending upon the speed of the treadmill. In case of bicycle ergometer the amount of exercise can be controlled voluntarily by pedaling the cycle with predefined resistance. Aim of Study: The study was aimed at finding out the effects of these commonly used machines in gyms and in cardiovascular rehabilitation and comparing these effects. Methodology: type of study – experimental type. • Subjects were randomly allotted into two groups of 10 each. One group underwent treadmill training and the second group underwent cycle ergometer training for 30min, 3days per week for four weeks. The intensity of training was within 60% to 70% of age matched target heart rate(5) which was monitored using pulse oximeter.(12) • Shuttle walk test was admistered pre and post training and the results were recorded. • Vo2 was calculated using the formula (0.0289 *distance)+17.46.(6) • Results were analysed using paired t test for intra group analysis and unpaired t test for inter group analysis. Results: According to the study conducted the increase in shuttle walk distance and Vo2 values post treadmill training and cycle ergometer training were found to be extremely significant. No significant difference was seen between the improvements in two groups. Conclusion: Our study concludes that, treadmill and bicycle ergometer are equally effective in improving functional exercise capacity.