Int J Sports Med 1981; 02(2): 87-91
DOI: 10.1055/s-2008-1034588
© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

Physiologic Response to Endurance Work as a Function of Prior Exercise*

B. Gutin1 , J. E. Wilkerson2 , S. M. Horvath3 , R. D. Rochelle4
  • Applied Physiology Laboratory, Teachers College, Columbia University New York, New York, 10027 USA and Institute of Environmental Stress, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, 93106 USA
  • 1The data for this study were collected at the Institute of Environmental Stress while Dr. B. Gutin was on sabbatical leave from Teachers College, Columbia University.
  • 2Dr. J.E. Wilkerson is currently at the Physical Education Department, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47401.
  • 3Director of Institute of Environmental Stress.
  • 4R.D. Rochelle is currently at the Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, St. Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri 63104.
* This work was supported in part by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Air Force Systems Command, under Grant AFOSR 73-2455 and by the National Institutes of Health, under Grant NIH AG 00021.
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
14 March 2008 (online)

Abstract

Five male subjects performed an endurance task (ET) following 20 min of prior exercise (PE) at work loads corresponding to approximately 30%, 45%, 60% and 75% of V̇O2max. There was a 1-min rest interval between the PE and ET. The ET consisted of 10 min of walking at a speed and slope corresponding to 75% of V̇O2max after which time the speed was increased by 10 m/min each minute until the subject could no longer continue. Although endurance performance was not significantly influenced by the PE-30 and PE-45, performance following PE-60 and PE-75 was significantly impaired, as was the peak Vq, attained at the end of the ET. Although O2 deficits at the beginning of the ET were reduced by the higher intensities of PE, the plasma lactate levels at the 8th min of the ET were not significantly lower under those conditions since those levels of PE led to some lactate accumulation during the PE itself. V̇O2 during the last 5 min of the constant load part of the ET was similar in all conditions but PE-75, during which it was higher. It is suggested that although PE might be useful for tasks in which the initial work loads are maximal or supramaximal with respect to V̇O2, it is of questionable value in endurance tasks that begin at a high but submaximal intensity.