Time to exhaustion and physiological reactions at maximal lactate steady state intensity in cycling

The purpose of this study was to examine the difference in time to exhaustion (TTE) and total work at maximal lactate steady state and the accompanying physiological reactions, as well as finding correlations between physiological parameters, subjective measures of fatigue and TTE.

Sixteen subjects (male; 31.4 ± 8.5 y; 183.4 ± 6.6 cm; 76.6 ± 7.7 kg; 10.9 ± 3.4% body fat; 61.8 ± 5.3 ml/min/kg VO2max) underwent several testing sessions administered in a randomized fashion to determine VO2max, maximal rate of lactate accumulation (dLa/dtmax), power output at lactate minimum (MLSSP), peak and mean power output during a sprint test and body composition. Finally, a test at fixed intensity (MLSSP) to exhaustion (TTE) was conducted. Mean VO2, blood lactate, self-assessment of the rate of fatigue (RPE), total work were measured regularly during TTE.