Abstract

Five male triathletes cycled at 70 of maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) for 60 minutes followed by running at 85 of VO2max for 30 minutes to determine the effects of prior cycling on running efficiency. The triathletes performed two control sessions involving cycling and running at the designated intensities independently. The subjects then cycled for 60 minutes prior to two separate running strategies. The constant running strategy (CN) involved running at the 85 intensity for the entire 30 minutes. The progressive strategy (P) involved beginning the run slowly and progressively increasing running intensity to the designated workload during the first nine minutes of running. The identical 85 intensity was then maintained for the remainder of the run. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) for repeated measures revealed significant differences (p < .05) between the control run (CR) values and the running treatments following cycling. The CN protocol elicited significantly higher VO2, ventilation (VE), and heart rate (HR), responses with significantly lower mean arterial pressure (MAP) values in comparison to CR responses. Although performing less work during the initial nine minutes of running, the P strategies VO2, VE, HR and blood lactate (BL) values were significantly lower than the CN strategy responses throughout the remainder of the run. The P strategy reduced the residual physiologic effects of cycling which appeared to be a more prudent running strategy following cycling. Verf.-Referat