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Changes in mechanical work during severe exhausting running

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Abstract

The possible contribution of muscular work to the increase in oxygen uptake (V̇O2) over time during running was investigated on 11 adult males who were asked to run until exhaustion at 90 (3)% [mean (SD)] of their maximal aerobic velocity on a treadmill ergometer. Ground reaction forces, expired gases and EMG from leg muscles were collected for 30 s at min 3 and during the last minute of the run. Subjects ran for 829 (165) s and showed an increase in V̇O2 of 179 (93) ml.min−1 between min 3 and exhaustion. Increased ventilation explained 41 (27)% of the increase in V̇O2. Stride frequency slightly decreased but no significant differences were found in the mechanical work or in integrated EMG. It was concluded that, in running, the increase in V̇O2 could not be related to a drift in muscle work.

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Fig. 1A, B.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3A, B.

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Acknowledgements

The authors want to thank all the people involved in this experiment, especially the technical staff from St. Etienne and the students involved in data collection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire PPEH-GIP E2S, Faculté de médecine, 15 rue A Paré, 42055, St. Etienne cedex 2, France

    Patrick Avogadro & Alain Belli

  2. Faculty of Sport, University of Ljubjana, Gortanova 22, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Ales Dolenec

Authors
  1. Patrick Avogadro
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  2. Ales Dolenec
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  3. Alain Belli
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Correspondence to Patrick Avogadro.

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Avogadro, P., Dolenec, A. & Belli, A. Changes in mechanical work during severe exhausting running. Eur J Appl Physiol 90, 165–170 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-003-0846-y

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