Maximal intermittent cycling exercise: effects of recovery duration and gender

Abstract

Billaut, Franç ois, Magali Giacomoni, and Guy Falgairette. Maximal intermittent cycling exercise: effects of recovery duration and gender. J Appl Physiol 95: 1632-1637, 2003. First published June 6, 2003 10.1152/ japplphysiol.00983.2002This study aimed to evaluate potential gender differences in recovery of power output during repeated all-out cycling exercise. Twenty men and thirteen women performed four series of two sprints (Sp1 and Sp2) of 8 s, separated by 15-, 30-, 60-, and 120-s recovery. Peak power (Ppeak), power at the 8th s, total mechanical work, and time to Ppeak were calculated for each sprint. Ppeak and mechanical work decreased significantly between Sp1 and Sp2 after 15-s recovery in both men (Ϫ6.4 and Ϫ9.4%, respectively) and women (Ϫ7.4 and Ϫ6.8%, respectively). Time to Ppeak did not change between recovery durations, but women reached their peak power more slowly than men (on average 5.15 Ϯ 1.2 and 3.8 Ϯ 1.2 s, respectively; P Ͻ 0.01). During Sp1 and Sp2, linear regressions from Ppeak to power at the 8th s showed a greater power decrease (%Ppeak) in women compared with men (P Ͻ 0.05). In conclusion, patterns of power output recovery between two consecutive short bouts were similar in men and women, despite lower overall performance and greater fatigability during sprints in women. anaerobic power; all-out repeated exercise; cycle ergometer INTERMITTENT ANAEROBIC ENERGY supply characterizes the type of metabolic pattern in many sports involving repetitive sprint exercises, such as soccer, rugby, tennis, hockey, basketball, and fencing. During such exercises, rapid changes in metabolism and muscle function result in an inability to maintain the required level of force or exercise intensity. The physiology of maximal intermittent exercise is complex, as the patterns of time course relationship between work and recovery period are not well defined. Over the last 10 years, numerous studies have focused on fatigue and recovery processes during sprints (1,6,7,10,11,23). Some authors have investigated the effect of short recovery duration (30 s) on repeated sprint performance, on nonmotorized treadmill (17, 21), during over-ground sprints (2), and on cycle ergometer (18). These studies have demonstrated a decrease in performance closely related to the number of repetitions and exercise duration. During intermittent exercise, performance depends on the subject's ability to recover from the periods of work. Therefore, performance depends on the duration of the rest between sets. In sporting events, there is a wide range of work-rest patterns that are all involved in the ability to sustain all-out effort. To our knowledge, no data are available on the minimal recovery duration needed between two short cycling sprints to maintain a given maximal performance in women.Resting phosphagen stores of women (ϳ80 mmol/kg dry muscle) are close to the values for men (6,7,10,14). Moreover, no significant gender differences were observed for changes in ATP, ADP, IMP, and phosphocreatine (PCr) during sprint exercise (...

Fatigue in repeated-sprint exercise is related to muscle power factors and reduced neuromuscular activity

“…These results have implications in the context of multiple-sprint sports since short recovery periods, during short-term intermittent exercise, have been reported not only to decrease muscular performance (e.g., running speed), but also to negatively affect the quality of specific sporting skills (Ferrauti et al 2001). However, our results contrast with previous reports showing that a 30-s rest period is enough to restore power output for three or four consecutive 6-s sprints (Gaitanos et al 1993;Balson et al 1994b) or two 8-s sprints (Billaut et al 2003). These contrasting results may be linked to differences in initial (i.e., first sprint) power output, subjects' training status or to the different ergometers employed (Hunter and Enoka 2001;Bishop et al 2003;Bishop and Spencer 2004).…”

Gender Differences in Peak Muscle Performance During Growth

“…The present data were consistent with previous studies which observed no gender-related differences in CPP in pre-teenage individuals [5,6,29], whilst CPP was higher in males compared with females from about 13 years of age until adulthood [1,4,21,29,37,41]. In other words, boys, in contrast with girls, showed a clear adolescent growth spurt in leg muscle power.…”

Mechanical work accounts for sex differences in fatigue during repeated sprints

“…For example, performance decrements during and across intermittent sprints (all-out sprints interspersed with rest periods long enough to allow near complete recovery of performance) are lower in women than in their male counterparts (Billaut et al 2003;Esbjörnsson-Liljedahl et al 1999, 2002Falgairette et al 2004). Similar observations have been made during repeated-sprint exercise (RSE; all-out sprints interspersed with brief recovery intervals) where women display a greater ability to maintain absolute peak power output, work and speed across sprint repetitions (Billaut and Smith 2009;Bishop et al 2003a;Laurent et al 2010;Yanagiya et al 2003).…”