Video Lab of VO2 Max test
Monday, December 19th, 2011This article explains how Professor Jeffrey Timmer created a video lab showing an exercise test that could not be completed on campus due to the absence of required equipment.
Teacher: Jeff Timmer, Associate Professor, Physical Education
With current economic times, the ability to purchase expensive laboratory equipment is a challenging process. With the newly approved Exercise Science option in the Physical Education Department, the need for an experience with a metabolic cart for the measurement of oxygen consumption is becoming a necessity within the program.
Primary Purpose – The primary purpose of this project was to create a video lab experience of a maximal graded exercise test using a metabolic cart. The goal was to create an experience where the students not only watched the video but actually interacted with the data collected and presented throughout the video.
Secondary Purpose – To evaluate the effectiveness of using a video lab to establish a learning experience with a metabolic cart where the students get a sense of what is required of the subject performing this difficult test.
Materials acquired – Sanyo Xacti HD video camcorder. In addition I would also like to thank iWorx Systems Inc. for their willingness to demonstrate the use of their HK-300 Metabolic Gas Analyzer (metabolic cart) and giving us permission to videotape the demonstration.
The Need
A maximal graded exercise test for the measurement of oxygen consumption is a somewhat invasive testing procedure that requires a subject to exercise to exhaustion while wearing a gas collection mask. The students at Keene State have never been exposed to a maximal test due to the lack of equipment, and therefore don’t have a good sense of what the test involves from a testing perspective as well as a subject perspective.
14 minute Video of Test
It is vital as the Exercise Science program moves forward that the students get a sense of what a maximal test looks and feels like. These tests are very common in Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehabilitation facilities, elite athletic training facilities, and in exercise research. Therefore, it is important for our students to gain some experience in this type of testing prior to graduating from KSC.
Creating the Video
Initially, I contacted iWorx Systems in Dover, NH, and inquired about a possible demonstration of the use of their metabolic cart, and whether or not I would be able to record the session on the Sanyo Xacti video camcorder. The people from iWorx Systems Inc. were wonderful to deal with and more than willing to demonstrate their equipment at KSC. Once we found a subject willing and actually excited to perform the maximal test, we set a date and time for iWorx to come to campus.
The maximal bike test went flawlessly, and the video recording really came out well. I was hoping to gather snapshots or screenshots of the data output on the computer screen as the test was being performed, but that turned out to be more of a challenge than I could overcome. I would have loved for the students watching the video to try and decipher the metabolic cart data output and then explain what the data meant. However, in the midst of helping run the maximal exercise test, I ran out of hands and time.
Instead, I took the most valuable information off the computer read out and placed that information at the appropriate timeframe in the video using the software iMovie. The process was smooth without issues due to the ease of iMovie, which helped the overall project become more engaging for the students.
At the end of the exercise test, after all data was presented, I let the video run for a few minutes longer while the subject was cooling down. During that time, I asked the subject a few questions about the testing experience. The subject was honest about how the mask was uncomfortable and felt it truly limited her breathing. The subject also complained about the cadence of the pedaling (50rpm), which really made the test more difficult and felt she could have gone longer if she was allowed to pedal at a different speed.
Implementing the Video Lab Assignment
The students were given a lab report, in which all the data points were left blank, and as they watched the video, the students recorded the data presented on the video. The students remarked that the video was very interesting, and by writing the data information down on paper, the students were continually engaged in the lab process.
The students were also required to provide graphs and decipher valuable information based on the data received during the video. The lab reports reflected great work showing the students were able to not only gather the data, but use the data to answer practical questions regarding the subjects results.
In the lab report, the students echoed the subject’s sentiments and really thought the entire test looked uncomfortable and extremely hard towards the end of the test. As stated previously one of my goals for the video lab, was to give the students a sense of what a maximal exercise test looks and feels like, and based on the lab reports received this semester they definitely gained a sense of the discomfort and difficulty of performing a maximal exercise test.
The most difficult part of the entire process was transferring the video to Blackboard and making it accessible to the students. After three attempts, and unchecking multiple availability boxes within Blackboard, the students finally had access to the file and had no problems with the video clarity and sound.
The ease of video transfer from the camera to the computer, iMovie’s user friendly setup, and the willingness of iWorx Systems Inc. to demonstrate their equipment made the video lab creation well worth the time and effort for the improvement of Physiology of Exercise class/laboratory experience.
Overall, the video lab was an excellent teaching tool, and although the students didn’t get to experience the test first hand, the video allowed for the gathering of knowledge that the students in my Physiology of Exercise class have been lacking in previous years.
