For men, chose the applicable equation based on your relative age: Young Men: VO2max (ml/kg/min) = (3.62 x Time) + 3.91 Men: VO2max (ml/kg/min) = (2.94 x Time) + 7.65
Bruce Treadmill Test Definition To conduct this test, have the athlete do the following:
Warm up for 10 minutes
Begin running on the treadmill at 1.7 mph (2.74 km/hr) and an incline of 10%.
Every 3 minutes increase the slope by 2% and the treadmill speed according to the chart below.
When the athlete can no longer continue, stop the test and enter the number of minutes he/she was able to run.
Although calculating one’s BMI can certainly be beneficial for determining relative levels of health and fitness, it is undeniable that this number alone cannot fully represent how healthy an individual really is. A BMI value is determined only by an individual’s height, age, gender, and weight and does not take into consideration how well that individual may be able to perform certain physical tasks. Therefore, a BMI value can easily make unfit people believe that they are healthy and vice verse. This is where the Bruce Treadmill Test can come in handy. The Bruce Treadmill Test takes into account far more than a person’s weight, height, and age. Instead, this test is based on what its name suggests—performance on a treadmill. While other factors like an individual’s age are somewhat considered (for example, there is a different equation for “young men” and “men”), the Bruce Treadmill Test is primarily determined by the length of time that an athlete can successfully run on a treadmill set to specific running speeds and difficulties of inclines.
How to Perform the Bruce Treadmill Test To start the Bruce Treadmill Test, an individual should spend about 10 minutes warming up. This might include light jogging, jumping jacks, or any other form of aerobic exercise that will warm up and loosen running muscles while also mildly increasing the heart rate. The 10 minute period does not have to be exact; it is not actually what the test is determined by, but instead it is recommended simply as a way to prepare an individual’s muscles for the rest of the test. Following the warm up period, the Bruce Treadmill Test actually starts. To perform the test, an individual should start jogging on a treadmill set to a pace of 1.7mph and an incline of 10%. This is the first stage of the test and should be kept up for a total of 3 minutes. Every following stage of the test should also be kept for 3 minutes. For each subsequent test stage, the incline/slope should be increased by 2%. For example, the second stage would be at an incline of 12%, the third at 14%, and the tenth at 28%. The speed must also be increased for each stage, and this increase in speed is set according to the standards of the Bruce Treadmill Test. More specifically, the speed for each stage of the Bruce Treadmill Test is as follows:
1.7, 2.5, 3.4, 4.2, 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 6.5, 7.0, 7.5 (all speeds are in mph). For example, an individual who makes it to the eighth level would run that eighth level for three minutes, at a speed of 6.5mph and an incline/slope of 24%. When a runner feels that they can no longer run, however, they should make note of their time and stop the test.
How to Calculate the Bruce Treadmill Test Calculating a Bruce Treadmill Test score can be done in one of a couple of methods. However, the simplest way to determine your Bruce Treadmill Test score is to simply plug in the exact duration of the test run that you were able to successfully complete to the Bruce Treadmill Test calculator. For example, an individual who completed the fourth stage of the test would have run 12 minutes. The score is then determined based on a couple of formulas that determine the VO2 max of the runner, as based on the runner’s age, gender, and time. In general, the larger the Bruce Treadmill Test number is, the more “fit” an individual is.
How to Calculate Bruce Treadmill Test Let's be honest - sometimes the best bruce treadmill test calculator is the one that is easy to use and doesn't require us to even know what the bruce treadmill test formula is in the first place! But if you want to know the exact formula for calculating bruce treadmill test then please check out the "Formula" box above.