Maximum aerobic power (V02 max), maximum anaerobic power (AP max), submaximal exercise heart rate (HRsub), and performance times for distances of 15m, 600m, 3.22km, and 10km were evaluated in 12 male runners prior to and after 7 weeks of a running programme at each individual's maximum steady-state (MSS) pace. MSS pace, a runnning speed at which blood lactate is believed to equal 2.2 mmol.l-1, was calculated from weekly 3.22 km runs utilising the regression equation of LaFontaine et al (1981). During the training period, the mean MSS pace increased 11.3% from 3.76 to 4.19 m.s-1. Body weight and maximal exercise heart rate were unaffected by MSS training. However, MSS training was associated with increases (p < 0.05) in absolute V02 max (8.9%) and V02 max relative to body weight (8.1%), absolute AP max (3.7%) and AP max, relative to body weight (4.3%); decreases in resting HR (5.4%) and HRsub (6.9%); and decreases in performance times for runs of 15m (1.8%),600m (4.4%),3.22km (9.6%), and 10km (12.1 %). MSS paces determined prior to the pre-and post-training 10km races were significantly related to the pre-training (r = 0.98) and post-training 10km (r = 0.95) performance paces. Pretraining MSS pace, maximal aerobic power, and performance times for the 3.22km and 10km distances were highly related to improvements in MSS pace and performance times for the 3.22km and 10km runs. Our findings indicate that training at MSS pace is an effective method to increase maximal aerobic and anaerobic power, and decrease performance times for short-and middle-distance running events. Pre-training running performance may predict the magnitude of improvement due to MSS pace training.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.