Abstract 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 (VE) and oxygen consumption (VO2) when the pedal rates were chosen spontaneously (TSCCR) or set at 10% of the freely chosen rates (T+10% and T10%, respectively). The mean pedal rate values were linearly related (P0.01) 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 (P0.05) during TSCCR than during T+10% and T10%. Peak VO2 values were significantly higher (P0.05) in T+10% than in TSCCR and T10%. The increase in HR, VE, and VO2 mean values, in relation to the increase in the power developed, was significantly higher (P0.05) when the pedal rate was set at plus 10% of the SCCR (T10%) 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 VO2 value.