The Bruce protocol treadmill test was designed by cardiologist Robert A. Bruce in 1963 as a non-invasive test to assess patients with suspected heart disease.1 In this capacity, it is perhaps more widely known as a stress test or exercise tolerance test. Now, the Bruce protocol test is commonly used to help identify a person's level of aerobic endurance by providing an estimated maximal oxygen uptake or VO2 max, which measures an athlete's capacity to perform sustained exercise and is linked to