The appropriate knowledge of normal responses in HR, blood
pressure, and ˙VO2 during the ramp protocols that are widely used
in cardiopulmonary exercise testing is necessary to understand the
results of an exercise test. However, these have not been available,
particularly for the Japanese population. Moreover, no data
of HR and blood pressure in a ramp protocol have been available
for cycle ergometer or treadmill ergometer testing since the protocols
employed in the majority of the previous reports investigating
this topic were Bruce’s multistage protocol or another stepwise
incremental protocol.