MAXIMAL ANAEROBIC RUNNING TEST CAN BE USED TO DETECT CHANGES IN 400-M RUNNING PERFORMANCE

Abstract

791 This study investigated whether maximal anaerobic running test (MART) can be used to detect changes in 400-m running performance during competitive season. Thirteen 400-m runners and three 400-m hurdlers ran the MART as well as 400 m or 400 m hurdles race twice within three weeks. The MART consisted of n · 20-s runs on a treadmill with 100-s recovery at the constant slope of 3 °. The velocity of the treadmill was increased by 0.41 m · s-1 after each consecutive run until exhaustion. Fingertip blood samples were taken after each run to determine blood lactate vs. running velocity curve. Acid-base status of the blood and blood gases were determined at rest and 5 min after the MART. Maximal velocity (Vmax), velocities at 13 mM and 5 mM blood lactate levels (V13mM and V5mM, respectively) were determined by the MART. Ten of the sprinters (Group 1) improved their 400-m time from 50.30 ± 2.27 s to 49.95 ± 2.26 s and six of them (Group 2) impaired it from 49.80 ± 1.98 s to 50.26± 1.96 s. Group 1 also improved their Vmax from 7.89 ± 0.31 m · s-1 to 8.08 ± 0.26 m · s-1 (p = 0.001) while no changes were observed in Group 2 (7.99 ± 0.37 m· s-1 vs. 8.00 ± 0.31 m · s-1; interaction p = 0.007). Furthermore, correlation analysis of the pooled data showed that the change in 400-m time correlated significantly (p < 0.05) with the changes in Vmax (r = 0.75), V13mM (r = 0.56), V5mM (r = 0.54) and actual base excess change during the MART (r = 0.57). The results of the present study showed that the MART is a sensitive laboratory test method for determining changes in 400-m race performance in sprint runners.