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Influence of pacing strategy on O 2 uptake and exercise tolerance
Author(s) -
Jones A. M.,
Wilkerson D. P.,
Vanhatalo A.,
Burnley M.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of medicine and science in sports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.575
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1600-0838
pISSN - 0905-7188
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0838.2007.00725.x
Subject(s) - anaerobic exercise , time trial , medicine , work rate , zoology , heart rate , turnover , physical therapy , cardiology , biology , blood pressure , management , economics
Seven male subjects completed cycle exercise bouts to the limit of tolerance on three occasions: (1) at a constant work rate (340±57 W; even‐pace strategy; ES); (2) at a work rate that was initially 10% lower than that in the ES trial but which then increased with time such that it was 10% above that in the ES trial after 120 s of exercise (slow‐start strategy; SS); and, (3) at a work rate that was initially 10% higher than that in the ES trial but which then decreased with time such that it was 10% below that in the ES trial after 120 s of exercise (fast‐start strategy; FS). The expected time to exhaustion predicted from the pre‐established power–time relationship was 120 s in all three conditions. However, the time to exhaustion was significantly greater ( P <0.05) for the FS (174±56 s) compared with the ES (128±21 s) and SS (128±30 s) conditions. In the FS condition, V̇O 2 increased more rapidly toward its peak such that the total O 2 consumed in the first 120 s of exercise was greater (ES: 5.15±0.78; SS: 5.07±0.83; FS: 5.36±0.84 L; P <0.05 for FS vs ES and SS). These results suggest that a fast‐start pacing strategy might enhance exercise tolerance by increasing the oxidative contribution to energy turnover and hence “sparing” some of the finite anaerobic capacity across the transition to high‐intensity exercise.