h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

In general this is a great entry bringing the science of sport to the masses. I think however given the aim of the content is to do this, it should be using the correct terms. Hopefully my memory will serve me ok, and the following is all correct.

VO2 is really a V with a dot above it (but there probably isn't a character for that) followed by O2 (the chemical oxygen where the 2 is subscripted, this IS used in the entry). The V-dot is scientific notation for rate of uptake (or similar), because we're talking about "rate of oxygen uptake".

Also although they are discussed in the context of runners and cyclists, the terms relative VO2 and absolute VO2 don't seem to appear. These are frequently used terms by sport physiologists.

Finally, during my sport science degree I never saw relative VO2 Max referred to as VO2/Kg. Either it was "relative VO2 max", "relative oxygen uptake" or ml.kg-1.min-1 (where the -1's have been superscripted), or ml/kg/min. Mililitres per kilogram per minute. (Apologies for spelling of millilitres).

I really should get involved at the PR stage more often ...

bbs

Having now got some time to read through the entry, I notice some more items. I am slightly rusty on this stuff, so I'm not claiming that I'm going 100% correct with my comments, but I think they need some discussion.

1) Opening paragraph "VO2 Max is a measure of how fit an athlete is: it expresses the volume of oxygen a body consumes per minute". VO2 max does not expresses the volume of oxygen a body consumes per minute, that is just plain VO2. The max value is the maximum value that can be obtained. A subtle difference.

2) Typo error in para 3. Use of non-subscripted O2 in the phrase "millilitres of O2 per minute per kilogram of body weight". Also as I mentioned before this is usually expressed in a different order - millilitres of O2 per kilogram of body weight per minute (ml/kg/min).

3) As mentioned before the runners are having oxygen uptake measured relative to bodyweight (relative VO2 - ml/kg/min) while the cyclists are using absolute values (L/min).

4) In the direct measurement paragraph, an explanation of the difference between peak & max VO2s would have been useful. To be honest I can't even really remember the difference myself. Peak is an instantaneous value, while max is the plateaued value?

5) Real numbers section - the researcher has used the phrase "peaked at 63.2 ml/minute/kg" so maybe they're comfortable with this order, and I'm wrong about it being "ml/kg/min". But then at the end of the paragraph they've turned it around in the description of a MET. Consistency is needed I feel.

6) Paragraph prior to the Conclusion section - Astrand name is mis-spelt.

7) In the conclusion it says "If lactate tolerance is low, then a super VO2 Max is all for naught - interval training can help here". This interests me, as I've been using IT to improve my VO2 Max (now about 72 ml/kg/min, and long distance work to improve my lactate threshold. What's the wisdom behind your comments?

Ok well that's enough from me. Perhaps I'll see some replies and comments back. I'm not saying my comments are the "be all and end all", I just got taught things differently. So I'm open to hear others opinions.

bbs

Hi!,

Wow - where were you when my entry was in PR?

I'm pushed for time right now, but I have to concede a lot of your points.



I have exchanged emails with a Dr. in Denmark who published a diagram to show what limits a runner's performance. I'll look up his name and give you a hint how you can Google for his site. (I'm not allowed to post it here.) But he says that lactacte tolerance is improved more by the tempo runs than the long, slow duration runs.

Ed Whitlock (I happen to know him, and ran the Jasper to Banff Relay with him) never does any speed work! He runs two hours every day - at a pace that even he finds embarassingly slow. And he ran a 2:50 marathon at 69 years. He set the world record the next year, but he had a bad day and ran 3:00:16 or something. So, it's what ever works for you.



More later.
Thanks
Awu

Ahh super. Massaged my ego nicely there. I did manage to remember something correctly from classes

Yep, I'd be interested to hear what Dr Denmark has to say. I've been looking at a few websites, which go down the Ed Whitlock - long runs, comfortable pace. I guess the theory is that you're acclimatising the muscles, but as lactate never gets too high, you can do it every day. Thereby lowers the risk of injury too.

Post your stuff soon. I'll go add my fave physiology website to my Personal Space once I've posted this.

bbs

Correction: He's from Norway. Dr. Stephen Seiler. He has an article about the "limiting factor" and a nice diagram putting it all together.

Assistant professor
Institute for Sport
Agder University College
4604 Kristiansand S, Norway

I had run a 30K trail run and noticed that runners next to me were breathing harder. With me, the limiting factor was my legs. I wrote and asked him why! He reckoned I biked too much for one thing.



There are three major components...
1. Oxygen transport capacity
2. High fatigue resistance in working muscles
3. High efficiency of transfer of physiological work to mechanical movement.

From the top down, you can see the dependencies. Race day (Achieved) performance depends mainly on your potential performance. Achieved performance will also depend on variables such as pacing (you go out too fast) and psychological factors. Ultimately your performance depends on the three above mentioned components. Then it starts to get complicated due to the interdependencies.

I read some where else that lactate tolerance is improved by continuous "tempo" runs of 15-30 minutes in duration, or long "cruise" intervals of 3:00 to 12:00 in length with very short rest breaks. Between 8 and 15% of your weekly mileage should be Lactate Threshold running. The pace (per Km?) should be 12 – 15 seconds slower than your 10K pace or about 87 to 92% of max. heart rate.

Awu

Ah, now that's interesting because that's the same website I've been reading !! I've been concentrating on the Rowing side of things - trying to get my time down on the ConceptII. Maybe I should start reading the running stuff.

I've also added a link on my personal space to this website, and a page from another that talks about running at comfort levels day after day (rather like Ed Whitlock). Perhaps you'd be interested?

bbs