An alternative to oxygen deficit as a way to quantify anaerobic contributions in running

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if the sum of estimates of the phosphocreatine contribution and the glycolytic contribution (we refer to this sum as PCr+glycolysis) provides an alternative to oxygen deficit as a way to quantify the anaerobic contribution in running. Thirty university students performed three treadmill tests, each test at one speed individually selected for each participant; one test was terminated after 3 min, one after 7 min, and one at exhaustion (mean ± SD, 10.3 ± 0.4 min). Oxygen deficit was calculated by subtraction of the accumulated oxygen uptake from the total oxygen cost. Phosphocreatine and glycolysis contributions were determined from post-exercise VO2 responses and blood lactate concentrations, respectively. The mean values for PCr+glycolysis were ~3 mL•kg-1 lower (p < 0.05) than oxygen deficit across three exercise durations, but well correlated (r ≥ 0.80, p < 0.05) at each. These results confirm the validity of PCr+glycolysis as an alternative to oxygen deficit to quantify the anaerobic contribution in running exercise.

Energy System Contributions during Olympic Combat Sports: A Narrative Review

“…This method has been shown to be capable of terminating the maximum accumulated oxygen deficit, with the advantage of breaking down the anaerobic contribution into its ATP-PCr component (based on the EPOCfast) and glycolytic components (based on the conversion of blood lactate accumulation to oxygen equivalent) [ 56 ]. Its use and validity have been reported in running [ 57 , 58 , 59 ], and cycling [ 60 , 61 ], including high-intensity interval exercise [ 62 ].…”

Effects of Hypoxia Responses during Moderate- and Severe-Intensity Exercise Performed to Exhaustion

“…The estimated sum of PCr and glycolytic contribution generates a measure of total anaerobic contribution. Researchers have reported that oxygen deficit and PCr + glycolysis did not differ, and were highly correlated (Bertuzzi et al, 2010;Urso et al, 2010;Hill et al, 2020;Valenzuela et al, 2020). In the present study, we were not able to confirm the validity of the PCr+glycolysis measure in the normoxia condition.…”