THE RELATIONSHIP AMONG EXERCISE INTENSITIES OF CRITICAL POWER, VENTILATORY THRESHOLD AND INDIVIDUAL ANAEROBIC THRESHOLD 1172

Abstract

The present study examined the differences and relationships among exercise intensities of critical power (CP), ventilatory threshold (VT) and individual anaerobic threshold (IAT). The subjects were 18 male collegiate students, age 21.60±2.20 years, height 172.80±3.10 cm and weight 69.30±5.30 kg. All subjects performed two incremental exercise tests on a cycle ergometer. The first test started from 80 watts, with a 30 watts increment every 3 minutes until exhaustion. Total exercise time, ventilation and gas exchange responses were monitored during the exercise test. Blood lactate was measured at the end of each stage, and at 1, 2, 5, 10 and 15 min post-exercise. Blood lactate responses were used to determine IAT. Ventilation and gas exchange responses were used to determine VT. The second test started from 30 watts, with a 25 watts increment every minute until exhaustion. Total exercise time was monitored during this exercise test. The exercise time from the two incremental exercise tests were then used to determine CP. The exercise intensities of CP, VT and IAT were 193.17 ± 44.36 watts, 183.17±25.39 watts and 157.78±29.15 watts, respectively. Results indicated that there was no significant difference between CP and VT, but CP and VT were significantly higher than IAT. The correlation coeficients of CP and VT, CP and IAT, VT and IAT were 0.626 (p<.05), 0.642 (p<.05) and 0.820 (p<.05), respectively. These results suggest that exercise intensities of CP which is derived from incremental exercise is a valid predictor for exercise intensities of VT and IAT.