Comparison of incremental treadmill exercise and free range running.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare physiological responses during incremental treadmill exercise and free range running. Fifteen competitive cross-country runners performed an incremental treadmill test and an unpaced 1-mile run on an indoor 200-m track. Physiological variables (VO(2peak), HR(peak), VO(2) x HR(-1)(peak), V(Epeak)) were measured using a portable metabolic analyzer. Blood lactate was measured post exercise. Outcome variables were analyzed with repeated measures ANOVA. Although directionally similar to previous studies with cycle ergometry, the observed peak values (track vs treadmill) for VO(2) (63.0 +/- 7.4 vs 61.9 +/- 7.2 mL x kg(-1) x min(-1)), V(E) (147 +/- 37 vs 144 +/- 30 L x min(-1)), HR (188 +/- 5 vs 189 +/- 7 beats.min-1), and VO(2) x HR(-1) (22.1 +/- 4.4 vs 21.5 +/- 4.5) were not significantly different. The observed peak values for blood lactate (14.4 +/- 3.3 vs 11.7 +/- 3.0 mmol x L(-1)) were significantly (P < 0.05) different. The results are not in full agreement with previous findings from cycling studies with the exception of post exercise blood lactate. Whether this represents a fundamental lack of effect of free range exercise or is related to mode specificity remains to be determined.