Performances of men and women in repeated cycle sprints separated by limited recovery intervals

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine the restoration of power in the Wingate Anaerobic Test (WArm in men and women during inteNal sprints that consisted of five 2O-second cycle tests, which were separated active recovery periods of 45 seconds. 2D men (2S.3±2.7yrs; 1.7S±O.00m; 69.3±8.9kg) and 28 women (23.2± 2.2yrs; 1.63 ± O.06m; 53.5 ± 7.6kg) participated in the study. On separate oocasions, participants completed an incremental treadmill test to determine peak oxygen uptake (1:/02) and a repeated cycle sprints protocol, where peak power (PP) and mean power (MP) in five consecutive sprints were measured, as were pre and post-exercise blood lactate (BU concentrations. Results showed that men had higher peak 1:/02 than women (53.2±8.7 vs. 42.8± 6.8 mVkg BM/min, p<O.05l, greater differences in PP and MP between repeated sprints than women, yet demonstrated similar magnitude of power restoration for PP and MP between sprints. Men and women had similar blood BL profiles. Power restoration in the WAnT cannot be explained by differences in peak oxygen uptake in men and women.