Comparison of Submaximal Treadmill and Supine Bicycle Exercise

Neil L. Coplan, MD, David M. Sacknoff, MD, Nina S. Stachenfeld, PhD, and Gilbert W. Gleim, PhD

From the Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine and the Section of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Lenox Hill Hospital.

Postinfarction exercise testing is frequently used to evaluate risk for inducible ischemia, and may involve either treadmill or bicycle exercise. Exercise in this clinical situation is frequently submaximal, with either a target heart rate or workload used as a clinical parameter for termination. In the following study we compared the physiologic stress associated with bicycle and treadmill exercise during the degrees of submaximal exercise often used to evaluate postmyocardial infarction patients.

Am. Heart J. 1994;128:416-8