The relationships between blood-borne and gas-exchange descriptors of anaerobic capacity and short-distance running performances
Date
1990
Authors
Green, Simon
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Abstract
The purpose was to establish the utility of maximal accumulated Di deficit (MAOD) , 02 debt (O2D) and maximal blood lactate (BLa-max) as measures of anaerobic capacity for a well-trained athletic population. To do this , the relationships between the anaerobic variables: MAOD , O2D , BLa-max following a treadmill sprint run (TSR[BLa-maxD and an all-out 400m sprint (AOS[BLa-maxD, and four short-distance running performances (AOS400m , 400m , 800m and 1500m) were determined in 17 male varsity athletes (track , soccer and rugby) and 4 recreational athletes. The aerobic variables of maximal aerobic power (VO2max) and ventilatory threshold (VT) were assessed using a motor-driven treadmill , and stepwise multiple regression analysis was used to determine the relative contribution of the aerobic and anaerobic variables in predicting running performances. Regression analysis was also performed on data collected for the 13 non-track athletes (split-group analysis). VO2max (mL·kg-l.min-1) and VT (mL·kg-l.min- 1) were correlated (p < 0.05) with 800m (r = - 0.62, R2 = 0.38) and 1500m time (r = - 0.49, R2 = 0.24) , respectively, whilst VOimax (m·s-1) and VT (m·s-1) accounted for 44% (r = - 0.70, p < 0.001) and 64% (r = - 0.80, p < 0.001) of the variance in 1500m performance , respectively. O2D was correlated with AOS400m (r = 0.62) , yet all other anaerobic variables were not correlated (p > 0.05) with the running performances. The split-group analysis demonstrated that the aerobic variables were still significant predictors of the running performances , whereas the anaerobic variables accounted for minimal variance (1-34%) in all performances.
minimal variance (1-34%) in all performances. These findings suggest that the four anaerobic variables are not useful estimates of anaerobic capacity in well-trained athletic populations , or that anaerobic capacity was not a major predictor of the running performances assessed for this population. Furthermore , that the four anaerobic variables were generally not related with each other suggests that the metabolic bases of these variables differed , and as a result , they do not describe the same metabolic construct.