Yamamoto, N., Isaka, T., Wada, T., Sakurama, K., Takenoya, F., Yanagi, H., & Hashimoto, M. (2004). The maintenance of anaerobic power in intermittent short-duration high intensity exercise. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 36(5), Supplement abstract 1427.

“Anaerobic power is defined as the ability to produce high mechanical power output in a short time and provides a quantitative measure of anaerobic fitness. Many sports demand intermittent anaerobic energy production. Depletion of creatine phosphate and accumulation of lactate that results in a decrease in muscle pH are limiting factors in muscle work. The maintenance of anaerobic power output for high intensity intermittent exercises is important in competitive sports events” (p. S205)

The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal exercise-resting time for maintaining a high mechanical power output in intermittent short-duration cycle exercise. Healthy male students of physical education performed 10 bouts of maximal cycle exercise. Blood lactate concentration, oxygen uptake, peak power, and mean power output were measured. The measurements were repeated four exercise conditions (3-, 5-, 7-, and 10-s exercise with 57-, 55-, 53-, and 50-s rest period, respectively).

In 3- and 5-s exercise, peak power and mean power did not show any significant decrease during the 10 bouts of exercise. In 7- and 10-s exercise, both peak power and mean power were decreased as the number of the exercise bout increased. Fatigue index decreased whilst blood lactate concentration increased with bout length increment (3-s, 4.3 ± 0.1; 5-s, 7.8 ± 1.1; 7-s, 9.9 ± 0.9; 10-s, 11.2 ± 1.3 mmol/l). A significant positive correlation between cumulative work and blood lactate concentration, and negative correlations of peak power with blood lactate and oxygen uptake were found under four exercise conditions.

Implication. Increase in the performance of intermittent exercise requires adaptations of both aerobic energy production and concomitant anaerobic energy. In this study 3-57 and 5-55 rest work segments appeared to be optimal.

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