The aims of the present study were: first, to assess the interindividual variations of a spontaneously chosen crank rate (SCCR) in relation to the power developed during an incremental upper body exercise on an arm ergometer set at a constant power regime, and second, to compare heart rate (HR) responses, expired minute ventilation (V(E)) and oxygen consumption (VO 2 ) when the pedal rates were chosen spontaneously (T(SCCR)) or set at ± 10% of the freely chosen rates (T(+10%) and T(-10%), respectively). The mean pedal rate values were linearly related (P < 0.01) with the power developed during arm cranking (r = 0.96), although large variations of pedalling rate strategies were observed between subjects. Maximal power (MP) and time to exhaustion values were significantly higher (P < 0.05) during T(SCCR) than during T(+10%) and T(-10%). Peak VO 2 values were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in T(+10%)- than in T(SCCR) and T(-10%). The increase in HR, V(E), and VO 2 mean values, in relation to the increase in the power developed, was significantly higher (P < 0.05) when the pedal rate was set at plus 10% of the SCCR (T(±10%)) than in the two other conditions. The findings of the present study suggest that the use of an electromagnetically braked ergometer, which automatically adjusts the resistance component to maintain a constant work rate, should be used in order to achieve the highest MP values during an incremental upper body exercise. A 10% increase of the SCCR should be used in order to provide the highest peak VO 2 value.