Abstract
The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of age and recovery duration
on the time course of cycling peak power and blood lactate concentration ([La]) during
repeated bouts of short-term high-intensity exercise. Eleven prepubescent boys (9.6
± 0.7 yr), nine pubescent boys (15.0 ± 0.7 yr) and ten men (20.4 ± 0.8 yr) performed
ten consecutive 10 s cycling sprints separated by either 30 s (R30), 1 min (R1), or
5 min (R5) passive recovery intervals against a friction load corresponding to 50
% of their optimal force (50 % Ffopt). Peak power produced at 50 % Ffopt (PP50) was
calculated at each sprint including the flywheel inertia of the bicycle. Arterialized
capillary blood samples were collected at rest and during the sprint exercises to
measure the time course of [La]. In the prepubescent boys, whatever recovery intervals,
PP50 remained unchanged during the ten 10 s sprint exercises. In the pubescent boys,
PP50 decreased significantly by 18.5 % (p < 0.001) with R30 and by 15.3 % (p < 0.01)
with R1 from the first to the tenth sprint but remained unchanged with R5. In the
men, PP50 decreased respectively by 28.5 % (p < 0.001) and 11.3 % (p < 0.01) with
R30 and R1 and slightly diminished with R5. For each recovery interval, the increase
in blood [La] over the ten sprints was significantly lower in the prepubescent boys
compared with the pubescent boys and the men. To conclude, the prepubescent boys sustained
their PP50 during the ten 10 s sprint exercises with only 30 s recovery intervals.
In contrast, the pubescent boys and the men needed 5 min recovery intervals. It was
suggested that the faster recovery of PP50 in the prepubescent boys was due to their
lower muscle glycolytic activity and their higher muscle oxidative capacity allowing
a faster resynthesis in phosphocreatine.
Key words
Children - recovery - power output - intermittent exercise - blood lactate - fatigue
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P. Duché
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