If oxygen deprivation increases the risk of...oxygen retention

...then we're over-consuming oxygen in efforts that shouldn't require VO2max, and we need to get away from the constant speed racing model and understand the physiology of exercise.

We urgently need to offer haute couture to anyone who wants to increase their VO2max, whatever their level, age or gender.

We have seen that the oxygen deficit we can tolerate, which we call "anaerobic capacity", is the factor that determines the time it takes to maintain VO2max when we ask an athlete to maintain their speed at VO2max (maximum aerobic speed or power*,**).

At that time, 25 years ago, the training model studied was one of incremental speed increase (the test to determine the maximum aerobic power or speed associated with VO2max) and constant speed or power.

We had a separate approach to aerobic metabolism (our heat engine) and anaerobic lactic metabolism (our electric motor with average power and capacity for prolonged sprinting) and our anaerobic lactic electric motor (with high power and low capacity for 100m sprinting).

Not so simple, because our motor is a super-hybrid with a regulation that is not electronically calibrated to optimize energy saving, but a regulation that is beyond us, because it is that of our brain, which receives information from our whole body and environment, confronted with motivation (a commitment) and a distance to be covered!

* The document presents a study on the contribution of the anaerobic energy system to the time to exhaustion (tlim) at the minimum exercise intensity at which maximum oxygen consumption (VO2 max) is achieved in elite athletes (cyclists, kayakers and swimmers).

Key points of the study:

Aim: To estimate the contribution of the anaerobic system to the time limit at the exercise intensity at which VO2 max is reached.

Methodology:

23 male elite athletes participated (8 cyclists, 7 kayakers, 8 swimmers).

Preliminary tests determine VO2 max and corresponding exercise intensity.

Main test consisted of maintaining this intensity until exhaustion.

Measurement of accumulated oxygen deficit (AOD) to assess anaerobic contribution.

Results:

The mean contribution of anaerobic energy during the time limit exercise at PMA was 15.2%. There was a positive correlation between tlim and AOD and a negative correlation between tlim and VO2 max.

Conclusion: The anaerobic system plays an important role in tlim at VO2 max intensity. The differences between the groups may be due to the muscle mass recruited and the type of exercise.

In conclusion, this study shows that anaerobic energy should not be neglected when assessing the performance of endurance athletes at high intensities. Study of the anaerobic contribution to fatigue in elite athletes.

Implications:The results may help to adapt training strategies according to the specificities of each sport and the anaerobic capacities of athletes, since the anaerobic system plays a crucial role in tlim at VO2 max intensity.

**

This article examines the relationship between oxygen deficit (DO2) and time limit (tlim) at maximal aerobic speed (MAS) in sub-elite middle-distance runners. Here is a detailed summary of the key points of the study:

Aim of the study

The main objective was to demonstrate the relationship between oxygen deficit and time to exhaustion (tlim) at MAS. MVA is defined as the minimum speed at which VO2max is achieved.

Methodology.

Participants: 14 male sub-elite runners.

Tests: Each subject performed an incremental test to determine VMA and VO2max, followed by an exhaustive run test at 100% and 120% of VMA.

Measurements: Oxygen deficit was measured during exercise at 120% of VMA and calculated as the difference between O2 demand and accumulated O2 uptake.

Results.

Mean VO2max: 68.9 ± 4.6 ml/kg/min.

Average VMA: 21.5 ± 1 km/h.

Time to exhaustion: 269 ± 77 seconds at 100% MVA and 86 ± 25 seconds at 120% MVA.

Oxygen deficit: 32.31 ± 7.1 ml/kg.

Correlations:

tlim at 100% MVA and tlim at 120% MVA: r = 0.52.

tlim at 100% MVA and DO2 (ml/kg): r = 0.63.

tlim at 100% MVA and DO2 (%): r = -0.68.

VO2max and DO2 (%): r = 0.61.

MAS and DO2 (%): r = 0.65.

DO2 (ml/kg) and blood pH: r = -0.66.

DO2 (ml/kg) and blood lactate: r = 0.62.

DO2 and adjustment half-time (t1/2): r = 0.55.

Conclusion

The study concludes that oxygen deficit is significantly related to VMA time limit. The higher the oxygen deficit, the longer the time limit at VMA. This suggests that runners with high anaerobic capacity are more efficient at sustaining effort at VMA. The results also suggest that the adaptation of oxygen consumption plays a crucial role in VMA performance. These conclusions may be useful for training middle-distance runners.

We'll come back to this new concept of CERVO2max®*** later.

***The CerVO2max test is an advanced test that evaluates both your physical and mental performance. It combines the traditional VO2max test, which measures your maximum oxygen uptake during intense exercise, with assessments of your brain activity and efficiency¹.² This dual approach aims to provide a holistic understanding of how your body and mind work together during physical exertion.

The test typically involves monitoring the electrical activity of the brain using an electroencephalogram (EEG) during exercise². This can help determine if your brain's performance is a limiting factor in your overall physical performance.

For more information: 1. www.billatraining.com 2. asepscience.fr

Our willingness to go into oxygen debt during an intense effort and then slow down to accelerate again, thus increasing our average speed compared to a strategy of constant speed, is conditioned by our oxygen debt. If we always train at speeds below the ventilatory threshold (at which we can't hold a conversation!), we won't be able to tolerate an oxygen deficit.

And then comes the energy inflation, with over-consumption of oxygen as soon as we exceed the ventilatory threshold of 2, reaching oxygen consumption after 2-3 minutes. This is what we call the 'slow component' of the kinetics of adaptation of oxygen consumption to exercise, which is then said to be 'severe' >80% MAP, but which leads to 100% VO2max after 2-3 minutes (see Figure 1 of a cyclist pedaling at 85% MAP at ventilatory threshold 2 until exhaustion after 15 minutes, carried out in our laboratory in Paris-Evry, France).

As the economist Joan Violet Robinson (1903-1983), professor at the University of Cambridge, one of the leading figures of the Cambridge School and a left-wing Keynesian, wrote, companies that benefit from additional money flows use them to reduce their debt, which in turn reduces the money supply, because the bank that collects its loan destroys the money created ($).

So, if you can tolerate an oxygen deficit to satisfy your desire to accelerate in order to bet on a performance gain, you will be able to destroy this deficit as soon as you slow down.

Otherwise, if you continue to run at a constant speed, even at a speed below your aerobic maximum, you will be waiting for your VO2max because of the massive recruitment of all your motor units to mobilize all your muscle fibers, including those which are temporary for this type of submaximal effort and which are very oxygen consuming and lower power (type 2a fibers).

Ventilatory threshold 2 (VTS2) can be determined by analyzing the relationships between expiratory volume (VE), oxygen consumption (VO2) and carbon dioxide production (VCO2) during an exercise test. Here's how it works:

1. Analysis of respiratory data

- VE/VO2: This ratio indicates the efficiency of oxygen use. When metabolism is predominantly aerobic, this ratio is relatively stable. As intensity increases and the body begins to produce more lactate, the efficiency of oxygen uses decreases, causing this ratio to increase.

- VE/VCO2: This ratio measures the relationship between the volume of air expired and the production of carbon dioxide. As training intensity increases, this ratio also increases as the body begins to compensate for the accumulation of CO2 by breathing more.

2. Identifying thresholds

- Ventilation threshold 1 (VT1): This is the point at which VE/VO2 starts to increase significantly, indicating that aerobic metabolism is still predominant, but the body is starting to produce more lactate.

- Ventilation threshold 2 (SV2): At this stage VE/VO2 continues to increase more markedly and VE/VCO2 begins to increase rapidly. This indicates a shift to a more anaerobic metabolism where lactate accumulates in the blood, leading to increased fatigue.

Finally, the risk of conserving our energy in order to move forward by stimulating our production of extra power and speed compared to a sluggish economy depends on our ability to go into debt to produce performance and make that debt disappear.

Our cerebral government, which some called the 'Central Governor', had intuition, but our 'Central Governor' beats that of our respective countries by a long way 😂😉🤑.

So, in our next blog, you'll learn a lot about how to take debt risks with confidence, so that you can make them disappear in competition!

Next.