The O₂ uptake (VO₂) response to ramp-incremental (RI) exercise does not consistently demonstrate plateau-like behavior at the limit of tolerance, and hence the requirements for a maximum VO₂ commonly are not met despite apparent maximum effort. We sought to determine whether an appended step exercise (SE) test at a work rate greater than that achieved in a preceding ramp test would establish the plateau criterion. Seven healthy male adults performed RI cycle ergometry (20 W/min) to the limit of tolerance, followed by 5 min recovery (20W) and then an SE test at 105% (RISE-105) of the final work rate (WR_peak) achieved during RI. Five of these subjects also performed an RI test followed by SE at 95% WR_peak (RISE-95). VO₂ was measured breath-by-breath using a turbine and mass spectrometer. The average of the final 15 s of RI or SE was used to establish respective VO₂ peaks. When approaching VO₂ peak, a constant VO₂ value (e.g. a plateau) was not discernable during any RI or SE component of the tests. Although the WR_peak [mean (±SD)] was higher during the SE portion [359 (31) W] than during the RI portion [341 (29) W] of the RISE-105, the peak VO₂ was not different (SE, 4.30 (0.51) L/min; RI, 4.33 (0.52) L/min; p=0.49; n=7). Similarly, in the RISE-95 test, WR_peak was 310 (31) W for the SE portion and 326 (32) W for the RI portion, yet the peak VO₂ values were not different [SE, 4.12 (0.53) L/min; RI, 4.11 (0.48) L/min; p=0.78; n=5]. The lack of notable difference between the VO₂ peaks established at different peak work rates in our RISE protocols provides the plateau criterion for verification of maximum VO₂ in a single test session, even when the data response profiles do not themselves evidence a plateau.