The relationship between critical power and the onset of blood lactate accumulation

Abstract

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the contribution of the onset of blood lactate accumulation (OBLA), the heartrate-workload slope (HR-WL) and the efficiency of electrical activity (EEA = slope of IEMG vs. workload) of the leg extensor muscles to Critical Power (CP). Twelve adult males (mean age +/- SD = 24.5 +/- 2.8 yrs) volunteered as subjects for this study. Zero-order correlations indicated that OBLA was significantly (p less than 0.05) related to CP (r = 0.616) and EEA (r = -0.577). Stepwise multiple regression resulted in a one variable model with OBLA the only significant (p less than 0.05) predictor of CP. Furthermore, a related t-test resulted in a significant difference between the means of the power out-put at CP (mean +/- SD = 230.0 +/- 22.1 watts) and OBLA (179.6 +/- 31.8 watts). The results of this study indicated that the two threshold parameters, CP and OBLA, were significantly related and therefore it is likely that the physiological factors responsible for OBLA also influence CP. However, the significant mean differences indicated that the mechanisms which underly CP and OBLA were not identical. Furthermore, the HR-WL slope (mean +/- SD = 0.343 +/- 0.071 beats per watt) and EEA (0.969 +/- 0.572 microvolts per watt) were not potent predictors of CP.