Abstract
Background:
Young Indians face a higher risk of myocardial infarction compared to Caucasians of the same age, with sedentary lifestyle being a key risk factor. Regular physical activity can modify this risk, improving aerobic capacity and cardio-respiratory fitness. Oxygen uptake (VO2) estimates from treadmill tests, used for exercise prescriptions, assume no handrail support, yet patients often use them, affecting energy expenditure and estimate accuracy.

Aim:
This study investigates the impact of handrail support on treadmill time and VO2 estimates in our population.

Methods:
The study involved 100 healthy male subjects aged 18-40 years from Sri Devraj Urs Medical College, Kolar. Basal heart rate and blood pressure were recorded, and ECG chest electrodes were connected. Each subject performed two submaximal treadmill tests using the Bruce protocol, one with handrail support and one without, two weeks apart. Blood pressure was recorded at each stage and during recovery. Treadmill time, maximum heart rate, and VO2max were calculated using the Bruce formula. All pertinent data was meticulously recorded in a Microsoft Excel Sheet and subsequently subjected to analysis through the utilization of SPSS-Software.

Results:
A significant difference was observed between the two conditions (with and without handrail support) for treadmill time (TT) and VO2max, with a p-value of less than 0.001. Both TT and VO2max exhibited a strong positive correlation, with r values of 0.843 and 0.821, respectively, and a highly significant p-value of less than 0.001. TT predicted VO2max at 71.1% in the handrail support condition and 67.3% in the no handrail support condition, indicating an additional 4% effect on VO2max due to handrail support.

Conclusion:
Introducing handrail support significantly increases treadmill time (TT) and VO2max. VO2max without handrail support can be accurately predicted independently of the protocol using a regression formula.

Key words: Treadmill time, Handrail support, VO2max, Exercise prescription