Influence of recovery intensity on oxygen demand and repeated sprint performance.

Background: This study aimed to determine effects of recovery intensity (passive, 20%, 30% and 40% V̇O2peak) on oxygen uptake kinetics, performance and blood lactate accumulation during repeated sprints.

Methods: Seven moderately-trained male participants (V̇O2peak: 48.1±5.1 mL/kg/min) performed four 30-second repeated Wingate tests on four separate occasions.

Results: Recovery of V̇O2 between sprints was prolonged with recovery intensity (time required to reach 50% V̇O2peak: passive: 50±9 s; 20%: 81±17 s; 30%: 130±43 s; 40%: 188±62 s, P<0.001), while V̇O2-to-sprint work ratio was mainly increased by the higher intensities (passive: 138±17 mL/min/kJ; 20%: 149±14 mL/min/kJ; 30%: 159±15 mL/min/kJ; 40%: 158±17 mL/min/kJ, P=0.001). The decline in peak power tended to be greater in the higher intensity conditions during sprint 2 (passive: 7.4±5.4%; 20%: 5.8±7.9%; 30%: 12.7±7.4%; 40%: 12.7±5.5%, P=0.052), whereas average power was less decreased with recovery intensity during sprint 4 (passive: 22.4±8.9%; 20%: 19.9±6.1%; 30%: 18.4±7.3%; 40%: 16.6±6.2%, P=0.036). Blood lactate was not different with recovery intensity (P=0.251).

Conclusions: The present study demonstrated that while the higher recovery intensities induce prolonged oxygen recovery and impaired peak power restoration during the initial sprints, those intensities provide a greater aerobic contribution to sprint performance, resulting in better power maintenance during the latter sprints.