Measurement of Anaerobic Performance Characteristics of Athletes
As reviewed by Vandewalle et al. (Sports Med. 4: 268289, 1987) none of the previous methods has enabled accurate measurement of all the different determinants of maximal anaerobic performance. Consequently, a new maximal anaerobic running power (MARP) test (Rusko et al., Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 66: 97–101, 1993) was developed. It consisted of n.20s runs on a treadmill with a 100s recovery between the runs. The speed of the treadmill was increased for each consecutive 20s run until exhaustion. The height of counter-movement jumps (CMJ) and blood lactate concentration (bLa) were measured after each run. Based on bLa vs. running power and CMJ vs. running power-curves submaximal and maximal indices of anaerobic running power were calculated and expressed as the oxygen demand of running. The results give information on 1) maximal anaerobic running power, 2) bLa concentration during submaximal sprinting, 3) peak bLa after exhaustion, 4) the height of CMJ, and 5) the decrease in the height of CMJ relative to the running speed and blood lactate concentration. The 400m runners have attained the maximal anaerobic running power of 120 ml kg-1 min-1 (200% of VO2max) in the MARP test. The anaerobic contribution to the energy demand of the last completed 20s sprint is about 70%. Repeatability of the test results has been high.
KeywordsBlood Lactate Blood Lactate Concentration Blood Lactate Level Anaerobic Capacity Anaerobic Power
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