Lessons from history for V˙O2max and the V˙O2 plateau, part 1, 1920 – 1961: original concepts were based on discontinuous exercise protocols

Despite major limitations to the published research and data interpretations prior to 1961, such work led to the incorrect (not evidence-based) expectation that all participants should demonstrate a <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow><mml:mover><mml:mi>V</mml:mi> <mml:mo>˙</mml:mo></mml:mover> <mml:msub><mml:mi>O</mml:mi> <mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msub> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> plateau at or near <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow><mml:mover><mml:mi>V</mml:mi> <mml:mo>˙</mml:mo></mml:mover> <mml:msub><mml:mi>O</mml:mi> <mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msub> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> max. The inter-connectedness of <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow><mml:mover><mml:mi>V</mml:mi> <mml:mo>˙</mml:mo></mml:mover> <mml:msub><mml:mi>O</mml:mi> <mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msub> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> max and the <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow><mml:mover><mml:mi>V</mml:mi> <mml:mo>˙</mml:mo></mml:mover> <mml:msub><mml:mi>O</mml:mi> <mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:msub> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> plateau concepts thereby became engrained into the pre-1970s, and perhaps later, epistemology of exercise physiology.