Anaerobic capacity estimated by the sum of both oxygen equivalents from the glycolytic and phosphagen pathways is dependent on exercise mode: Running versus cycling

• Published in: PloS one 2018-09, Vol.13 (9), p.e0203796-e0203796
• Main Authors: Redkva, Paulo Eduardo, Miyagi, Willian Eiji, Milioni, Fabio, Zagatto, Alessandro Moura
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anaerobic exercise; Biology and Life Sciences; Caffeine; Cycles; Equivalence; Exercise; Exhaustion; Fitness equipment; Glucose metabolism; Glycolysis; Health aspects; Laboratories; Medicine and Health Sciences; Metabolism; Oxygen; Oxygen uptake; Pathways; Physical education; Physical fitness; Physical Sciences; Physical training; Physiological aspects; Physiology; Running
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0203796

The purpose of this study was to verify whether the exercise modality (i.e., running and cycling) alters the magnitude of "anaerobic" capacity estimated by a single supramaximal effort (AC[La]+EPOCfast). Fourteen healthy men (age: 26±9 years) underwent a maximum incremental test and a supramaximal effort to exhaustion at 115% of the intensity associated with maximal oxygen uptake to determine the AC[La]+EPOCfast (i.e., the sum of both oxygen equivalents from the glycolytic and phosphagen pathways), performed on both a treadmill and cycle ergometer. The maximal oxygen uptake during running was higher (p = 0.001; large effect size) vs. cycling (48.9±3.9mL·kg-1·min-1 vs. 44.8±5.5mL·kg-1·min-1 respectively). Contrarily, the oxygen equivalent from the glycolytic metabolism was not different between exercise modalities (p = 0.133; small effect size; running = 2.35±0.48 L and cycling = 2.18±0.58 L). Furthermore, the "anaerobic" capacity was likely meaning fully (3.65±0.70 L) and very likely meaningfully (949.1±5.7 mL·kg-1) greater in running than cycling (3.81±0.71 L and 52.0±8.1 mL·kg-1). Additionally, the contribution of the phosphagen metabolism was higher (p = 0.001; large effect size) for running compared to cycling (1.6±0.3 L vs.1.3±0.3 L respectively). Therefore, the "anaerobic" capacity estimated by the sum of both oxygen equivalents from the glycolytic and phosphagen pathways during a supramaximal effort is influenced by exercise modality and is able to identify the difference in phosphagen metabolic contribution, based on the methodological conditions of this study.