Abstract
Purpose
The aims of this study were (1) to investigate if the respiratory compensation point (RCP) as derived from ramp incremental (RI) exercise could accurately predict the power output (PO) at the maximal lactate steady state (MLSS), and (2) to compare its accuracy with the second lactate threshold (LT2) obtained from step incremental (SI) exercise.
Methods
Nineteen participants performed a RI test (30 W·min−1) to determine RCP, a SI test (30 or 40 W·3 min−1) to determine LT2, and two or more constant work rate (CWR) tests to determine MLSS. For each participant, the \(\dot{\text{V}}\)O2/PO relationship for RI and CWR exercise was established. The ramp-identified PO at RCP was corrected by accounting for the gap between these relationships using the individually determined \(\dot{\text{V}}\) O2/PO regression above GET (RCPcorr-1) or using a fixed regression slope (RCPcorr-2). LT2 was determined using four methods: Dmax, modified Dmax (ModDmax), 4-mM threshold (LT4mM) and an expert-determined LT2 (LT2-expert).
Results
RCPcorr-1 (235 ± 69 W), RCPcorr-2 (228 ± 58 W) and LT2-expert (227 ± 61 W) were not different from MLSS (225 ± 60 W). Dmax (203 ± 53 W) underestimated MLSS, while RCP (280 ± 60 W), ModDmax (235 ± 67 W) and LT4mM (234 ± 68 W) overestimated MLSS. The \(\dot{\text{V}}\)O2 at RCP (3.13 ± 0.79L·min−1) and LT2-expert (2.99 ± 0.19L·min−1) did not differ from MLSS (3.05 ± 0.72 L·min−1).
Conclusion
This study demonstrated that RCP as derived from RI exercise and LT2 as derived from SI exercise can be equally accurate to determine the PO associated with MLSS. Although these results confirmed the suitability of RI and SI tests for this purpose, they also highlighted the importance of an appropriate threshold method selection and the eye of the expert.
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Abbreviations
- ANOVA:
-
Analysis of variance
- CWR:
-
Constant work rate
- GET:
-
Gas exchange threshold
- HR:
-
Heart rate
- ICC:
-
Intraclass correlation coefficient
- La- :
-
Lactate
- LT2 :
-
Second lactate threshold
- LoA:
-
Limits of agreement
- MLSS:
-
Maximal lactate steady state
- MMSS:
-
Maximal metabolic steady state
- MRT:
-
Mean response time
- PO:
-
Power output
- RI:
-
Ramp incremental
- RCP:
-
Respiratory compensation point
- SI:
-
Step incremental
- CI95% :
-
95% confidence interval
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the subjects for their commitment to the study. This study was funded by the Special Research Fund of the Ghent University (Ghent, Belgium).
Funding
This research was funded by the Special Research Fund of the Ghent University (Ghent, Belgium) in the context of a doctoral fellowship (n° BOFDOC 2016003101).
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KC, SP, JGB and JB conceived and designed research. KC, ML and KV conducted the experiments and analyzed the data. KC, SP and JB wrote the manuscript. All authors revised and approved the manuscript.
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Results of the present study are presented clearly, honestly and without fabrication, falsification or inappropriate data manipulation. No conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise, are declared by the authors.
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This study was approved by the Ethical Committee of the Ghent University Hospital (Ghent, Belgium).
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Communicated by Jean -Rene Lacour.
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Caen, K., Pogliaghi, S., Lievens, M. et al. Ramp vs. step tests: valid alternatives to determine the maximal lactate steady-state intensity?. Eur J Appl Physiol 121, 1899–1907 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-021-04620-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-021-04620-9