Submaximal Running Test in Monitoring Endurance Training Adaptation

Abstract

Maximal laboratory tests are used to monitor changes in endurance performance. However, they are usually conducted only 2 or 3 times each training year due to impracticality and expensiveness for continuous monitoring of training adaptation. More frequently monitoring is needed for determining the optimal balance between the training load and recovery. PURPOSE: To investigate whether a submaximal running test and a standardized warm-up run could be used in monitoring endurance training adaptation. METHODS: Forty recreational endurance runners participated in an 18-week endurance training program. The first eight weeks included low intensity training and the second eight weeks high volume or high intensity endurance training. An incremental maximal treadmill test was performed in a test week before and after both training periods to determine maximal endurance performance (RSpeak) and maximal oxygen uptake. A submaximal running test (SRT) was performed on treadmill in week 0, 4, 9, 13 and 18. The three stage test (6 min 70% HRmax, 6 min 80% HRmax, 3 min 90% HRmax) was modified from the submaximal cycle test of Lamberts et al. (2011). The subjects performed also weekly a standardized warm-up run (SWR), which included the same protocol as SRT. The subjects were divided into responders (n=10) and non-responders (n=10) according to the changes in the RSpeak during the study. RESULTS: The responders improved their RSpeak (8.0 ± 1.1%, P < 0.001) but no changes were observed in the non-responders (-1.4 ± 2.8%, P = 0.452). The difference was also observed in the improvement of running speed of stage 3 in SRT (responders: 12.7 ± 7.4% vs. non-responders: 4.2 ± 2.2%, P = 0.006) and in SWR (9.2 ± 3.0% vs. 4.6 ± 3.0%, P = 0.017, respectively). The relationships were observed between absolute RSpeak and running speed of stage 2 (r = 0.77, P < 0.001) and stage 3 (r = 0.85, P < 0.001) in both SRT and SWR (r = 0.83, r = 0.79, P < 0.001, respectively). A relationship was also observed between the changes in RSpeak and running speed of stage 3 (r = 0.52, P = 0.001) in SRT after the 16-weeks of training. CONCLUSION: The results demonstrate the potential of the novel submaximal running test for predicting changes in endurance performance. In addition, the standardized warm-up run seems to be a practical tool for continuous monitoring of endurance training adaptation.