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Effect of a warm‐up on energy supply during high intensity exercise in horses
Author(s) -
Tyler Catherine M.,
Hodgson D. R.,
Rose R. J.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
equine veterinary journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.82
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 2042-3306
pISSN - 0425-1644
DOI - 10.1111/j.2042-3306.1996.tb01602.x
Subject(s) - horse , treadmill , zoology , blood lactate , intensity (physics) , vo2 max , aerobic exercise , heart rate , exercise intensity , chemistry , medicine , physical therapy , biology , physics , blood pressure , paleontology , quantum mechanics
Summary The V̇O 2max in racehorses is approximately double that of elite human athletes and the rate of increase in V̇O 2 at the onset of high intensity exercise is much greater than in man. The kinetics of gas exchange are affected by a warm‐up prior to exercise in humans, there being a greater aerobic contribution to high intensity exercise after warm‐up. Our hypothesis was that a warm‐up would increase aerobic energy delivery in racehorses during high intensity exercise. Thirteen fit Standardbred racehorses ran to fatigue at 115% of V̇O 2max on a treadmill at 10% slope. Prior to acceleration, horses were exercised either for 5 min at 50%V̇O 2max followed by 5 min walk, or walked for 2 min. Samples of expired gas were collected every 10 s during the run for determination of V̇O 2 and V̇CO 2 and measurement of maximal accumulated oxygen deficit (MAOD). Blood lactate concentration was measured 5 min post exercise. We found that with a warm‐up, horses had faster kinetics of gas exchange and a greater proportion of their total energy requirement was supplied by aerobic sources. The aerobic contribution to total energy requirement with and without warm‐up was, respectively, 79.3 ± 1.0% and 72.4 ± 1.7% (P<0.01). There was also a higher MAOD (P< 0.01) in horses that had not been given a warm‐up (mean ± s.e.m. 34.7 ± 2.6 and 47.3 ± 2.6 ml O 2 eq/kg bwt with and without a warm‐up respectively). However, there were no significant differences in total run time or estimated total energy expenditure between the 2 protocols. We concluded that during high intensity exercise to fatigue lasting 1 to 2 min, more than 70% of energy supply is from aerobic energy sources and that this contribution is even greater when the horses have received a warm‐up.