Reliability and Accuracy of a Standardized Shallow Water Running Test to Determine Cardiorespiratory Fitness.

A standardized fitness assessment is critical for the development of an individualized exercise prescription. Although the benefits of aquatic exercise have been well established, there remains the need for a standardized non-swimming protocol to accurately assess cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) in shallow water. The present investigation was designed to assess: 1) reliability of a standardized Shallow Water Run (SWR) test of CRF; and 2) accuracy of a standardized SWR compared with a land-based treadmill test (LTM). Twenty-three healthy females (20 ± 3 yrs), body mass index (BMI) (23.5 ± 3 kg·m), performed two shallow water peak oxygen consumption (VO2 peak) running tests (SWRa & SWRb), and one VO2max LTM. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC's) indicated moderately-strong reliability for VO2peak (ml·kg·min (r=0.73, p<.01), HRpeak (b·min)(r=0.82; p<.01), and O2pulse (VO2 (ml·kg·min) · (HR(b·min)) (r=0.77, p<.01). Using paired t-tests and Pearson's correlations, SWR VO2peak and HRpeak were significantly lower than during LTM (p<.05), and showed moderate correlations of 0.60 and 0.58 (p<.001) to LTM. O2 pulse was similar (p>.05) for the SWR and LTM tests with a moderate correlation of 0.63. A standardized SWR test as a measure of CRF is a reliable, and to some degree, valid alternative to conventional protocols, and may be used by strength and conditioning professionals to measure program outcomes and monitor training progress. Furthermore, this protocol provides a water-based option for CRF assessment among healthy women, and offers insight toward the development of an effective protocol that can accommodate individuals with limited mobility, or those seeking less musculoskeletal impact from traditional land-based types of training.This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License 4.0 (CCBY-NC-ND) , where it is permissible to download and share the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially without permission from the journal.