Differences in the rate of lactate removal from skeletal muscle following intense excercise in groups with different aerobic power
Date
1988
Authors
Schreiner, Andrea Birgit
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Abstract
To determine the effect of different levels of aerobic power (V02max) on the rate of lactate removal from skeletal muscle following intense exercise, 17 subjects, blocked into high (n=7) and low (n=10) VO2max groups, completed four 30 second intervals at maximal power on a cycle ergometer. Needle biopsies from the vastus lateralis and venous blood samples were taken immediately after the first interval (T1A), four minutes post the first interval (T1B) and again immediately (T4A) and four minutes post (T4B) the fourth interval. Muscle and blood lactates were determined enzymatically, using fluorometric and spectrophotometric methods, respectively.
Muscle lactate concentration immediately after the first (Tl) and fourth (T4) intervals was 12.3 and 19.4 mmol kg-1 for the high V02max group and 14.6 and 20.2 mmol kg-1 for the low V02max group. Lactate removal rates at Tl and T4 were calculated to be 25.9 and 37.5 umol kg-1 s-1 for the high group and 33.6 and 40.0 umol kg-1 s-1 for the low group. Muscle lactate concentration and lactate removal rates were not significantly different between the high and low groups. The same was found for blood lactate concentration and changes in blood lactate levels. Muscle lactate concentration correlated significantly to lactate removal rates in Tl and T4. These data suggest that the rate of removal from skeletal muscle following intense exercise is not affected by different levels of aerobic power. However, they do suggest the possible existence of a relationship between the concentration of lactate present in the muscle and the ability of the muscle to remove it.