Scand J Med Sci Sports 2011: 21: e222–e230 & 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S

doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0838.2010.01258.x

Anaerobic contribution during maximal anaerobic running test:

correlation with maximal accumulated oxygen deficit
A. Zagatto1, P. Redkva2, J. Loures2, C. Kalva Filho2, V. Franco2, E. Kaminagakura2, M. Papoti3
1
Laboratory of Research in Exercise Physiology, Department of Physical Education, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul,
Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, 2Department of Physical Education, Ponta Grossa State University, Ponta Grossa,
Parana, Brazil, 3Department of Physical Education, Sao Paulo State University, Presidente Prudente, São Paulo, Brazil
Corresponding author: Alessandro Moura Zagatto, Department of Physical Education, Federal University of Mato Grosso do
Sul (UFMS), Av Costa e Silva s/n, Cidade Universitária, CEP 79070-900 Campo Grande-MS, Brazil. . Tel:155 67 3345
7627, Fax:155 67 3345 7630, E-mail: azagatto@yahoo.com.br
Accepted for publication 25 October 2010

The aims of this study were: (i) to measure energy system
contributions in maximal anaerobic running test (MART);
and (ii) to verify any correlation between MART and
maximal accumulated oxygen deficit (MAOD). Eleven
members of the armed forces were recruited for this study.
Participants performed MART and MAOD, both accom-
plished on a treadmill. MART consisted of intermittent
exercise, 20 s effort with 100 s recovery, after each spell of
effort exercise. Energy system contributions by MART
were also determined by excess post-exercise oxygen con-
sumption, lactate response, and oxygen uptake measure-
ments. MAOD was determined by five submaximal
intensities and one supramaximal intensity exercises corre-
sponding to 120% at maximal oxygen uptake intensity.
Energy system contributions were 65.4  1.1% to aerobic;
29.5  1.1% to anaerobic a-lactic; and 5.1  0.5% to
anaerobic lactic system throughout the whole test, while
only during effort periods the anaerobic contribution corre-
sponded to 73.5  1.0%. Maximal power found in MART
corresponded to 111.25  1.33 mL/kg/min but did not sig-
nificantly correlate with MAOD (4.69  0.30 L and
70.85  4.73 mL/kg). We concluded that the anaerobic a-
lactic system is the main energy system in MART efforts
and this test did not significantly correlate to MAOD.

Neuromuscular power, anaerobic capacity, and
anaerobic power are important functions in maximal
performance during intense sporting events (Rusko
& Nummela, 1996). The most commonly used pro-
cedures to estimate these components include the
maximal accumulated oxygen deficit (MAOD)
(Medbø et al., 1988; Hill et al., 2002), Wingate test
(Bar-Or, 1987; Zagatto et al., 2008), jump tests
(Hoffman & Kang, 2002), and running tests on track
(Zagatto et al., 2009) and treadmill (Zemková &
Hamar, 2004). However, these tests have some
limitations, such as the indirect measurement of the
anaerobic component, the strong influence of the
aerobic energy system, and the impossibility of
prescribing exercise. The maximal anaerobic running
test (MART), which consists of intermittent exercise
of 20 s running interspaced with 100 s recovery until
exhaustion (Rusko et al., 1993; Nummela et al.,
1996c), has been introduced as a procedure that
can be used for estimating both neuromuscular and
metabolic components of maximal anaerobic perfor-
mance (Rusko et al., 1993; Rusko & Nummela, 1996;
Paavolainen et al., 2000; Mikkola et al., 2007).
Additionally, as in MART blood lactate ([La])
response is analyzed after each run, this behavior
could also be used to prescribe exercise. Power at
exhaustion from MART is described as anaerobic
working capacity index, while some submaximal
intensities obtained from fixed [La] values (e.g.,
power values corresponding to fixed [La] at 5 and
10 mmol/L) are considered as athlete sprinting econ-
omy (Nummela et al., 1996c; Rusko & Nummela,
1996). Nummela et al. (1996a) showed that MART is
a reproducible and valid test to determine combined
lactic and a-lactic anaerobic work capacity on tread-
mill running and correlates with Wingate. Heugas et
al. (2007) using an adapted MART on the track,
described that it can be a practical track test for
measuring anaerobic running capacity in runners. In
addition, MART seemed sensitive for identifying
differences in anaerobic fitness for subjects trained
in different sports (Vuorimaa et al., 1996) and non-
trained subjects (Nummela et al., 1996c); it also
highly correlated with 100–5000 m performance run-
ning (Rusko et al., 1993; Rusko & Nummela, 1996;
Paavolainen et al., 1999a, b; Nummela et al., 2006).
Nummela et al., (1996a) also reported that MART
has an anaerobic contribution of 68%. However, this
anaerobic energy contribution was only estimated
during effort periods and not during the whole test

e222

and recovery duration was five times higher than
exercise periods. In addition, MART validity was
mostly obtained from comparison with cycle-erg-
ometer tests (Nummela et al., 1996a; Tossavainen
et al., 1996) and there were few comparisons with
other anaerobic tests (Nummela et al., 1996a).
In an investigation of MART as an anaerobic
capacity indicator, Maxwell and Nimmo (1996)
found significant correlation between MAOD and
power at exhaustion from MART during treadmill
running in male students, concluding that MART
was a good indicator of anaerobic capacity compared
with MAOD. However, studies that investigated
using MART as an anaerobic capacity indicator
are limited (Maxwell & Nimmo, 1996). Based on
this preliminary information, we therefore hypothe-
sized that the anaerobic energy system is the main
energetic system throughout MART, as well as,
during MART efforts only, and that MART is
significantly correlated with MAOD during treadmill
running in trained subjects. The steps toward accep-
tance of this hypothesis depend on: (i) determining
the energy contribution of MART throughout the
test; (ii) determining the energy contribution of
MART only during effort periods; and (iii) verifying
correlation between MART and MAOD.
Materials and methods
Subjects
Eleven trained male armed forces personnel were recruited for
this study (21.0  0.7 years, 66.3  1.2 kg, and 171.0 
1.0 cm). They were middle- and long-distance runners
(800–5000 m). All subjects were familiarized with experimental
procedures and equipment and were instructed to have the
same individual light meal at least 2 h before the tests, to
maintain hydration habits, and to avoid additional sessions of
hard physical activity, and alcohol or caffeine ingestion during
the experimental period. All procedures were approved by the
University’s Institutional Review Board for Human Subjects
(Human Research Ethics Committee) and were conducted
according to the Declaration of Helsinki. Athletes and their
parents, when pertinent, were informed about experimental
procedures and risks, and signed an informed consent before
their participation in the study.
Experimental procedures
All exercise sessions were applied over a week period and
carried out at the same time of day with 24 h rest between each
session. During experimental procedures, the subjects were
released from military physical exercise and instructed not to
perform intense exercise. MAOD and MART were both
applied on a motorized treadmill (Inbramed ATL, Inbrasport,
Porto Alegre, Brazil). Strong verbal encouragement was given
for subjects to achieve maximal exercise. Five minutes of
moderate intensity exercise was used as warm-up, with the
test beginning after 5 min of passive recovery.
Pulmonary gas exchange was measured breath-by-breath in
all sessions by determining O2 and CO2 concentrations and
ventilation to calculate O2 using a metabolic gas analysis
system (True-One 2400, ParvoMedics, East Sandy, Utah,
Anaerobic contribution during MART
USA) (Crouter et al., 2006). The gas analyzers were calibrated
immediately before and verified after each test using a certified
gravimetrically determined gas mixture, while the ventilometer
was calibrated pre-exercise and verified post-exercise using a 3-
L syringe in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions
(Duffield & Bishop, 2008). Following removal. of outliers to
exclude discrepant breaths, breath-by-breath VO2 data were
interpolated to give 1 s values and smoothed using rolling 30 s
averages (OriginPro 8.0, OriginLab Corporation, . Microcal,
Massachusetts, USA) to enhance the underlying VO2 response
characteristics. In every test, the start and end time of each run
(i.e., exercise stage) were recorded for later synchronization
between ventilatory data and running events. Heart rate (HR)
was continuously monitored using a Polar Heart Rate Moni-
tor (Polar Electro Oy, Kempele, Finland) with a HR value
recorded beat-by-beat (R–R intervals) from the ECG channel
of a True-One system (ParvoMedics). Blood samples (25 mL)
were taken from the ear lobe for lactate determination ([La])
using YSI 1500 SPORT (YSI, Yellow Springs, Ohio, USA).
.
Maximal oxygen uptake measurement (VO2MAX )
.
Maximal. oxygen . uptake (VO2MAX ) and velocity associated
with VO2MAX (vVO2MAX ) were obtained from the maximal
incremental test with an initial velocity of 12 km/h incremen-
ted
. by 1 km/h every 3 min. Treadmill gradient . was set at 1%.
VO2MAX was considered as the highest VO2MAX average
during the last 30 s of exercise, with at least three of these
criteria being obtained: [La]  8.0 mmol/L; HR  maximal
age  predicted. HR (220  age); respiratory gas exchange
. .
ratio ðRER ¼ VCO2 =VO2 Þ  1.10; and VO2 plateau (varia-
tion
.  2.1 mL/kg/min between last two exercise stages).
vVO2MAX was . considered as the lowest achieved running
velocity at VO2MAX . If. exhaustion occurred before the end
of the exercise stage, vVO2MAX was determined as Kuipers et
al. (1985).
Submaximal and maximal exercises
Five submaximal exercise sessions were performed during a
7 min period corresponding to 50%, 55%, 60%, 70%, and
. .
80% vVO2MAX . Treadmill gradient was set at 1%. VO2 was
measured throughout. each 7 min exercise period as described
previously, and the VO2 values measured during the penulti-
mate and last .minute of exercise were averaged and used as the
steady-state VO2 for the corresponding velocity. After
. sub-
maximal efforts, a supra-maximal
. exercise at 120% vVO2MAX
was performed to measure VO2 , exercise time until exhaustion
(tlim), and determine MAOD (Weber & Schneider, 2001).
MAOD determination
. .
Submaximal velocity data and respective VO2 demand (VO2
steady state) were fitted in linear regression. The linear
regression was extrapolated
. to measure estimated oxygen
demand at 120% vVO2MAX . MAOD . was calculated by the
difference
. between estimated VO2 demand area (estimated.
VO2 demand multiplied by time to exhaustion) and VO2
integrated over time in the maximal exercise.
MART
Before
. the MART, subjects were rested for 10 min to measure
VO2 and [La] at baseline. MART was performed after the rest
periods; it consisted of a maximal incremental test with 20 s
exercise periods interspaced with 100 s recovery periods. The
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Zagatto et al.
first 5 s acceleration phase was not included in the running respectively. Total amount of anaerobic work (WANAER)
time. Initial velocity corresponded to 13 km/h and was in- corresponded to the sum of total W[La] and total WPCR.
creased by 1 km/h every exercise stage; treadmill gradient was Energy system contributions from the anaerobic a-lactic
set at 7%. After velocity increments reached 6.68 m/s, if system WPCR, anaerobic lactic system, and aerobic system
necessary, intensity increments were achieved by increasing were determined throughout the whole test, including efforts
treadmill gradient by 1% per stage. The initial intensity was and recoveries, and were also calculated considering only
adjusted respecting the physical fitness of subjects and to effort periods. These analyses were similar to those in studies
perform
. between 8 and 12 runs (Nummela et al., 1996a). on other sports (Beneke et al., 2004; Bertuzzi et al., 2007; de
VO2 was measured throughout the test, including at rest, and Campos Mello et al., 2009; Doria et al., 2009; Bertuzzi et al.,
until
. approximately 5 min after voluntary
. exhaustion or until 2010) and were based on assumptions described by di Pram-
VO2 returned to near baseline VO2 values, to determine pero and Ferretti (1999), di Prampero (1981) and Margaria et
excessive post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). al. (1933).
La was measured every exercise stage from blood samples
collected after 40 s recovery and at 3, 5, and 7 min after
exhaustion. Exercise intensity was expressed as running Statistical analysis
power, oxygen equivalents (Nummela et al., 1996c), and
calculated using the ACSM formula (American College of Data normality were initially verified by the Shapiro–Wilk’s
Sports Medicine 1986) for inclined treadmill running and test allowing the use of parametric statistical analysis. The
described in eqn. [1], where v corresponds to velocity and Pearson product-moment correlation test was used for corre-
incl to gradient. lation between MAOD and MART, using a significance level
. of Po0.05. Results are shown as mean  standard error.
VO2 ¼ ð12 . vÞ þ ð54 . incl . vÞ þ 3:5 ½1
The determined MART variables were maximal running
power (PMAX), and submaximal powers corresponding to Results
fixed [La] at 5 mmol/L (P5 mM) and 10 mmol/L (P10 mM), and .
peak blood lactate ([La]PEAK). Table
. 1 shows individual values of VO2MAX and
vVO2MAX . The linear regression determination coef-
.
ficient for submaximal velocity and respective
. VO2
Estimation of the contribution of the energy systems demand was 0.95  0.01 and tlim for 120% vVO2MAX
during MART was 208.0  12.7 s. Table 2 shows MAOD and
Energy system contributions from the anaerobic a-lactic MART variables and Fig. 1 shows average La
system (WPCR), anaerobic lactic system (W[La]), and aerobic response in MART.
system (WAER) were determined over the whole test and also
during the MART effort periods (i.e., 20 s exercise
There was no significant correlation between
. stages). Net MAOD and MART variables. However, PMAX and
aerobic energy
. was estimated by subtracting VO 2 rest from .
integrated VO2 area over time, calculated by the trapezoidal P5 mM both significantly correlated with VO2MAX
method (Beneke et al., 2004; Bertuzzi et al., 2007; de Campos (r 5 0.75, Po0.01; r 5 0.61; P 5 0.04, respectively).
Mello et al., 2009). The contribution of the anaerobic a-lactic
.
The tlim obtained for 120% velocity at vVO2MAX
system (WPCR) was considered to be the fast component of
excess EPOC. The fast component of EPOC was estimated
significantly correlated with MAOD (r 5 0.70,
after each exercise stage; and was also calculated after the end P 5 0.01), MAOD relative to body mass (r 5 0.65,
of the test fitted by a monoexponential model using OriginPro P 5 0.03) and P10 mM (r 5 0.67, P 5 0.02). These
8.0 software (OriginLab Corporation, Microcal, Massachu- Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients be-
setts, USA) (eqn. [2]). The fast component of EPOC was
.
tween MART variables with MAOD and VO2MAX
calculated by amplitude multiplied by t (eqn. [3]) (Beneke et
al., 2004; Bertuzzi et al., 2007; de Campos Mello et al., 2009).
are shown in Table 3.
Total WPCR corresponded to the sum of fast component of
EPOC calculated after each effort. The W[La] contribution was
.
estimated in each exercise stage by the difference between Table 1. Maximal oxygen uptake (VO2MAX ) and associated velocity at
lactate value measured after the stage (i.e., 30 s after stage end) . .
VO2MAX ( VO2MAX )
and lactate obtained from previous exercise stage considering . . .
1 mmol/L [La]NET corresponding to 3 mL O2 per kg body Subjects VO2MAX (L/min) VO2MAX (mL/kg/min) VO2MAX (km/h)
mass (di Prampero, 1981; di Prampero & Ferretti, 1999). For
the first exercise stage, W[La] contribution was estimated by the 1 4.6 66.9 18.0
difference between lactate measured after effort and baseline 2 3.4 52.6 14.2
[La], Total W[La] contribution corresponded to sum of all 3 3.9 55.7 15.3
values. 4 3.6 58.9 16.4
. . 5 3.3 57.1 15.5
VO2ðtÞ ¼ VO2baseline þ A½eðt=tÞ  ½2 6 3.6 53.6 15.8
7 3.4 51.7 15.8
WPCR ¼ At ½3 8 3.8 56.5 15.7
. . 9 4.3 58.5 17.3
Where VO2ðtÞ is the oxygen uptake at time t, VO2baseline is 10 3.7 56.3 15.8
oxygen uptake at baseline, A is amplitude, and t is time 11 3.5 56.1 16.0
constant. Mean 3.7 56.7 16.0
A calorific equivalent of 20.9 kJ L O2 1 was considered for SEM 0.1 1.2 0.3
the three systems, as used by de Campos Mello et al. (2009)
and Bertuzzi et al. (2007) in rowing and rock climbing, SEM, standard error of mean.

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 Anaerobic contribution during MART
Table 2. Individual values for MAOD and maximal running power (PMAX), power corresponding to blood lactate at 5 (P5 mM), and 10 (P10 mM) mmol/L, and
peak lactate ([La]PEAK) from MART

Subjects MAOD MART

Absolute (L) Relative (mL/kg) PMAX (mL/kg/min) P10 mM (mL/kg/min) P5 mM (mL/kg/min) [La]PEAK (mmol/L1)

1 4.6 66.1 115.9 105.5 95.0 20.8

2 4.6 70.2 104.3 100.5 87.9 13.6
3 6.2 88.2 119.5 111.4 95.6 13.1
4 5.8 94.2 112.3 108.9 96.2 12.4
5 5.0 84.3 108.7 103.7 90.3 14.2
6 5.8 85.2 108.7 100.8 85.8 15.3
7 4.6 69.8 108.7 101.3 88.4 16.3
8 3.2 48.7 112.3 109.9 100.7 13.3
9 4.5 61.2 115.9 113.8 109.0 14.4
10 4.3 64.8 108.7 101.1 88.4 18.0
11 3.0 46.7 108.7 103.4 91.1 14.0
Mean 4.7 70.8 111.2 105.5 93.49 15.0
SEM 0.3 4.7 1.3 1.41 2.05 0.7

MAOD, maximal accumulated oxygen deficit; MART, maximal anaerobic running test; La, blood lactate.

Fig. 1. Average blood lactate (La) response in maximal anaerobic running test (MART) and calculations of P5 mM, P10 mM,
PMAX, and [La]PEAK.

In MART, over the whole test, the aerobic system
contributed 65.4  1.1%. When analyzing only effort
periods, the a-lactic system was the main contributor,
with a total anaerobic contribution of 73.5  1.0%.
Contributions from the energy systems and total
energy expenditure throughout MART are shown
in Table 4, while Table 5 only shows contributions
from the energy systems and total energy expenditure
during effort periods. Figure 2 shows oxygen uptake
behavior during MART for Participant 1.
Discussion
The aim of study was to correlate MART with
MAOD and to calculate the energy system contribu-
tion throughout MART and during effort periods
only. The main findings were that there is no sig-
nificant correlation between MART and MAOD,
and there is a similar contribution from the aerobic
and anaerobic energy system throughout MART,
however, with a higher contribution from the a-lactic
energy system during efforts. In addition, significant
correlation
. was found between PMAX from MART
and VO2MAX .
In the anaerobic evaluation process, there is great
difficult distinguishing between muscle power output
from each energy system during exercise. The
MAOD test described by Medbø et al. (1988) is a
procedure that can distinguish between muscle power
generated by aerobic and anaerobic energy systems
and, it is an accepted and widely used test for
estimating anaerobic capacity (Medbø et al., 1988;
Gastin, 1994; Bertuzzi et al., 2010). However, be-

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Zagatto et al.
cause of the large amount of time deeded to apply Despite MAOD being currently accepted as a
submaximal and supramaximal exercise sessions for good test for determining anaerobic capacity (Medbø
MAOD determination, it is rarely used in athlete et al., 1988; Maxwell & Nimmo, 1996; Hill et al.,
training routines, its main use being in studies to 2002; Gardner et al., 2003; Bertuzzi et al., 2008), it
verify the validity of other anaerobic procedures. presents significantly higher values (approximately
Many authors describe MART as a valid test for 88–92%) when treadmill gradient is between 15%
measuring anaerobic working capacity and neuro- and 20% than when the gradient is 1% (Olesen,
muscular ability (Rusko et al., 1993; Maxwell & 1992). In a review of literature, Bertuzzi et al. (2008)
Nimmo, 1996; Nummela et al., 1996a). Nummela et attributed these differences to an increase in recruited
al. (1996a) reported its validity due to finding sig- muscle mass and reduced efficiency with the steeper
nificant correlations between PMAX and total work gradients. Therefore, the gradient was standardized
(r 5 0.52), [La] (r 5 0.53) and O2 deficit (r 5 0.43) to 1% in MAOD for all participants. In this way, the
measured by the Wingate test, as did Maxwell and MAOD values were systematically reduced for all
Nimmo (1996) who verified significant correlation participants.
between PMAX and MAOD (r 5 0.83) determining The second, and probably more acceptable, expla-
both tests with a 10.5% gradient in students. How- nation is the contribution from the aerobic metabo-
ever, our study found no significant correlation lism during the MART test. Nummela et al. (1996c,
between MART and MAOD using trained military b) verified an anaerobic contribution in MART of
personnel in extensive tests, thus rejecting our initial between 63% and 68%. However, these measure-
hypothesis ments were only taken during effort periods in the
Two hypotheses can be proposed for the lack of test, calculated by the difference between net oxygen
significant correlation between MART and MAOD demand (i.e., oxygen demand estimated using the
in this study. The first is related to the 6% difference ACSM formula) and net oxygen uptake. In our
in ergometric treadmill gradient during MART (7%) study, energetic contribution was calculated for the
in relation to MAOD (1%). whole test and also only during effort periods,
distinguishing between each energy system’s contri-
Table 3. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients between bution (Beneke et al., 2004; Bertuzzi et al., 2007; de
.
MART variables with MAOD and VO2MAX Campos Mello et al., 2009). Most studies that have
used this model to estimate energy system contribu-
PMAX P10 mM P5 mM [La]PEAK
tions, have used continuous effort sports that have no
MAOD (L) r 5 0.29 r 5 0.11 r 5  0.14 r 5  0.13 rest period or break. As MART has a rest period
MAOD
. (mL/kg) r 5 0.13 r 5  0.00 r 5 0.26 r 5  0.20 after each effort leading to the refill of anaerobic
. 2MAX (L/min)
VO r 5 0.75* r 5 0.54 r 5 0.61* r 5 0.52 energy stores, the a-lactic and lactic energy contribu-
VO2MAX (mL/kg/min) r 5 0.56 r 5 0.38 r 5 0.43 r 5 0.52
tions were measured after each effort. According to
*Po0.05 Margaria et al. (1933) and Haseler et al. (1999),
MAOD, maximal accumulated oxygen deficit; MART, maximal anaerobic oxygen uptake remains increased until 2–3 min after
running test; La, blood lactate. exercise to resynthesize the high-energy phosphate,

Table 4. Contribution from the energy systems and total energy expenditure throughout the MART

Subjects Energy production Relative contributions of the energy systems

WAER (kJ) WPCR (kJ) W[La] (kJ) WTOTAL (kJ) Aerobic (%) Anaerobic Total

a-Lactic (%) Lactic (%) Anaerobic (%)

1 765.3 362.3 86.2 1213.8 63.0 29.9 7.1 37.0

2 579.8 256.2 53.0 889.0 65.2 28.8 6.0 34.8
3 856.9 480.7 53.6 1391.2 61.6 34.6 3.9 38.4
4 652.6 387.9 33.0 1073.5 60.8 36.1 3.1 39.2
5 512.9 270.6 48.3 831.7 61.7 32.5 5.8 38.3
6 645.1 260.9 50.3 956.4 67.5 27.3 5.3 32.5
7 735.9 265.6 62.3 1063.8 69.2 25.0 5.9 30.8
8 682.0 240.9 23.9 946.8 72.0 25.4 2.5 28.0
9 823.2 328.7 59.4 1211.3 68.0 27.1 4.9 32.0
10 633.7 299.7 71.8 1005.2 63.0 29.8 7.1 37.0
11 744.4 301.1 50.4 1095.9 67.9 27.5 4.6 32.1
Mean 693.8 314.1 53.8 1061.7 65.4 29.5 5.1 34.6
SEM 31.1 21.7 5.1 49.1 1.1 1.1 0.5 1.1

MART, maximal anaerobic running test; SEM, standards error of mean.

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 Anaerobic contribution during MART
Table 5. Contribution from the energy systems and total energy expenditure measured only in effort period during MART

Subjects Energy production Relative contributions of the energy systems

WAER (kJ) WPCR (kJ) W[La] (kJ) WTOTAL (kJ) Aerobic (%) Anaerobic Total

a-Lactic (%) Lactic (%) Anaerobic (%)

1 140.4 362.3 86.2 588.9 23.8 61.5 14.6 76.2

2 106.5 256.2 53.0 415.7 25.6 61.6 12.8 74.4
3 162.1 480.7 53.6 696.4 23.3 69.0 7.7 76.7
4 134.8 387.9 33.0 555.7 24.3 69.8 5.9 75.7
5 97.7 270.6 48.3 416.6 23.4 65.0 11.6 76.6
6 125.0 260.9 50.3 436.2 28.6 59.8 11.5 71.4
7 151.4 265.6 62.3 479.3 31.6 55.4 13.0 68.4
8 123.9 240.9 23.9 388.8 31.9 62.0 6.1 68.1
9 163.5 328.7 59.4 551.6 29.6 59.6 10.8 70.4
10 111.3 299.7 71.8 482.8 23.1 62.1 14.9 76.9
11 125.8 301.1 50.4 477.4 26.4 63.1 10.6 73.6
Mean 131.1 314.1 53.8 499.0 26.5 62.6 10.9 73.5
SEM 6.6 21.7 5.1 27.6 1.0 1.2 0.9 1.0

MART, maximal anaerobic running test; SEM, standards error of mean.

Fig. 2. Oxygen uptake behavior obtained throughout max-
imal anaerobic running test (MART) for Participant 1.
enabling estimation of a-lactic . energy production
using the fast component of VO2 kinetics (Beneke
et al., 2002; Beneke et al., 2004; Bertuzzi et al., 2007;
de Campos Mello et al., 2009). Corresponding en-
ergetic participation over the whole test was
65.4  1.1% from the aerobic metabolism and
34.6  1.1% from the anaerobic systems (with the
a-lactic anaerobic system contributing 29.5  1.1%
and the lactic anaerobic system 5.1  0.5%). There-
fore, the aerobic system contribution was higher than
in studies that only considered effort time and could
possibly have directly influenced anaerobic aptitude
measurement. As MART uses intermittent exercise
with an effort rest ratio of 1:5 (20 s of effort and 100 s
of rest), the aerobic system is associated with power
generation in exercise, mainly maximum power,
which can be verified by the significant correlation
.
between PMAX and absolute . VO2MAX (r 5 0.75;
Po0.01) and also absolute VO2MAX and P5 mM
(r 5 0.61; Po0.05). After each MART effort , 100 s
of recovery is insufficient to completely refill anaero-
bic stores, mostly a-lactic stores (Tomlin & Wenger,
2001).
. This significant correlation between PMAX and
VO2MAX allows . to therefore assume that a subject
with a higher VO2MAX will accomplish a faster refill
of anaerobic system stores during recovery periods,
mainly creatine phosphate restoration. Faster crea-
tine phosphate restoration results in lower anaerobic
glycolysis pathway activity and consequently lower
acidosis, allowing more efforts to be performed
during MART. Heugas et al. (2007) also observed
that PMAX and maximal velocity . in MART were
significantly correlated with VO2MAX (r 5 0.87 and
0.91, respectively) and other aerobic parameters.
This relationship between aerobic and anaerobic
energy systems was also verified by Bishop and
Edge (2006), . who found a significant correlation
between VO2MAX and repeated-sprint ability
(r 5 0.64). However, the anaerobic contribution mea-
sured only during MART effort periods showed that
the a-lactic system was the main energy system
(62.6  1.2%), whereas anaerobic contribution was
73.5 . 1.0%. Thus, despite the aerobic energy system
(i.e., VO2MAX ) having a significant correlation with
PMAX, it does not mean that a subject with high
aerobic capacity would attain higher PMAX in
MART.
Tomlin and Wenger (2001) reported that higher
aerobic aptitude increased lactic acid removal and
creatine phosphate restoration for recovery and that
in 30 s of recovery 70% of creatine phosphate refill
occurs, while complete creatine phosphate refill oc-
curs in 180 s. Tomlin and Wenger (2001) corroborate

e227
Zagatto et al.
our explanation of aerobic system activity in anae-
robic system restoration; they also reported that in
MART 100 s recovery, the refill of a-lactic system
stores is incomplete.
In this way, as after each effort MART there was
probably a partial refill of creatine phosphate stores,
which led to an increase in glycolytic anaerobic
pathway activity seen as high lactate values found
during MART, to accept a significant
. relationship
between aerobic aptitude (i.e., VO2MAX ) and creatine
phosphate restoration, one can speculate a ‘‘cascade
reaction’’ and inter-relation between energy supplies
(a-lactic energy system, lactic energy system, and
aerobic energy system), which may help to explain
the lack of significant correlation between. MART
and MAOD. This series of events, a higher VO2MAX ,
may shorten recovery time for creatine phosphate
stores to refill (Bishop & Edge, 2006), delay the
increase of the anaerobic glycolysis pathway, lower
lactate production, decrease acidosis, and allow
higher performance in MART. In the present study,
the ‘‘cascade reaction’’ is supported by the
. significant
correlation found between MART and VO2MAX , but
not with MAOD.
Another application described in MART is the
possibility of prescribing training intensity using
lactacidemia response for exercise intensity. The La
running velocity curve obtained in MART can be
used in prescribing training in sprint running. As in
MART effort, the a-lactic energy system is the main
energy system, and after training it is hoped that
lactate production will decrease at the same intensity,
causing a displacement of the lactate curve to the
right, which can indicate a better creatine phosphate
stores refill, an increase in aerobic aptitude, or both.
However, some caution must be used in interpreting
this result as exercise duration is very short and
extremely intense, providing a different lactacidemia
response to that found during incremental exercise
when measuring aerobic capacity.
A possible limitation of our study was that our
MAOD determination used only five submaximal
exercise intensities. Medbø et al. (1988), who devel-
oped the MAOD test, described that MAOD deter-
mination requires the use of 10–20 submaximal
exercise bouts. However, applying this test in an
athlete’s routine is very difficult and was not possible
in our subjects. Hill (1996) therefore suggested using
only four exercise bouts for MAOD determination,
finding significant correlation (r 5 0.96) between this
adapted method and MAOD determined by Medbø
et al. (1988), allowing MAOD to be applied with
reduced number of exercise bouts; thus several
studies have determined MAOD using five exercise
bouts or less (Doherty, 1998; Woolford et al., 1999;
Gardner et al., 2003; Mezzani et al., 2006). Another
e228
possible limitation of the study is the 1% increment
in treadmill gradient after the 6.68 m/s velocity.
Nummela et al. (1996c) observed that aerobic energy
contribution increases with increased inclination.
However, the inclination was increased only if
necessary, which occurred in five subjects, and only
in latter exercise stages (i.e., last three exercise stages
for one subject, last two exercise stages for two
subjects, and the last exercise stage for two subjects)
and probably does not influence energy system con-
tribution.
We can conclude that: (1) The MART variables
did not correlate with the MAOD test performed on
a treadmill at a 1% gradient; (2) There is a high
energy contribution from the aerobic system
throughout MART; and (3) The a-lactic energy
system has the highest energy contribution during
efforts in MART.
Perspectives
Despite the high La concentration obtained during
MART (15.0  0.7 mmol/L), which appoint to high
activity of glycolytic pathway during exercise, the
results obtained in the present study described that
the methodological procedure of the MART consist-
ing of incremental exercise with 20 s of effort inter-
spaced by 100 s of rest (effort rest ratio of 1:5) had an
aerobic predominance that corresponded to approxi-
mately 65% throughout MART and 26.5% during
effort periods. In our study, the energetic contribu-
tion was calculated throughout the whole test and
during effort periods, and thereby our results dis-
affirm the affirmation of predominance of anaerobic
energy system during the MART obtained in pre-
vious investigations that measured the energetic
contribution only during effort periods (Nummela
et al., 1996a). It is possible to affirm that the
anaerobic energy system is the main energy system
during effort periods. Therefore, MART was under-
stood to be a predominantly anaerobic exercise
during effort, intermittent effort, and high intensity
effort,
. and having significant correlation with
VO2MAX .
Key words: oxygen uptake peak, anaerobic capacity,
blood lactate; running.
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by Fundação de Apoio ao desen-
volvimento do Ensino, Ciência e Tecnologia do Estado de
Mato Grosso do Sul (Fundect 41/100.111/2006; 41/100.187/
2006; 23/200.223/2007) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvol-
vimento Cientı́fico e Tecnológico (CNPq 301601/2006-2).

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