Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the power output and peak blood lactate concentration (peak La) of an intermittent all-out (IA) 90-s cycle ergometer test with that of two other 90-s cycle ergometer tests. Nineteen hockey players and 19 physical education students had similar results performing IA, continuous all-out (CA), and continuous constant (CC) cycling tests. Eight fingertip blood samples were drawn serially between 1 and 11 minutes into the recovery after each 90-s test to measure peak LA resulting from the test. Statistical analysis indicated: (1) a greater La for IA (mean +/- SD; 14.2 +/- 2.1 mmol/L) and CA (13.6. +/- 1.9 mmol/L) than CC (12.4 +/- 1.8 mmol/L); (2) IA had a higher mean power developed during the 90 s (652 +/- 65 W) than CA (538 +/- 56 W) and CC (547 +/- 53 W); and (3) CA had a greater power drop-off during 90 s (492 +/- 93 W) than IA (335 +/- 72 W), which in turn had a higher power drop-off than CC (261 +/- 50 W). Contributing mechanisms may have involved both an increased phosphocreatine replenishment and muscle lactate efflux during the recovery intervals of the intermittent test. There was a low correlation between peak La and power output indices, indicating the complex interaction of physiologic factors affecting these variables. Results showed that an IA test may be more appropriate than a continuous test for providing a measure of anaerobic power while at the same time lasting long enough to test anaerobic glycolytic capacity. Verf.-Referat