VO2 Max and Lactate Threshold testing may be something that most individuals are unfamiliar with, but some might recall the Gatorade commercials that show various athletes pouring out sweat in different hues of the sports drink while being hooked up to a tube and a mask as they run on a treadmill in a facility.
Dr. Brian Pribble, Assistant Professor for the Department of Exercise and Sport Science who operates the Exercise Science building on Oklahoma City University’s campus has upwards of nine years of experience in conducting VO2 Max and Lactate Threshold testing.
Pribble achieved his master’s and doctorate degrees at the University of Oklahoma while employed in OU’s Body Composition and Physical Performance Research Lab.
Speaking to The Campus recently, Pribble provided more in-depth information on VO2 Max and Threshold testing.
OCU once had multiple VO2 testing machines inside of the Exercise Science Building. However, when the previous director left a position in that building, accessibility in conjunction with the benefits of those machines became a thing of the past for various athletes on campus who desired to know more about their inspired and expired oxygen levels.
The process of a VO2 test involves hooking an athlete up to what is called a metabolic cart, which is a device that measures the difference in the amount of O2 and CO2 gasses in the air in addition to the levels that an individual breathes out or is extracted. VO2 tests determine how acrobatically fit the test subject is while calculating the aerobatic capacity of those who partake in aerobic heavy sports such as cross-country.
In sports such as soccer or basketball, a process known as Lactate Threshold testing is more precisely applicable because of the different types of short bursts of sprinting that those athletes utilize. Lactate Threshold testing computes the point at which lactate accumulates in one’s bloodstream.
“Air quality is definitely a concern for athletes …” Pribble said. “[It’s a] very important role especially for outside cross-country runners running in the city versus out in the fields.”
Is there a correlation between poor air quality and less optimal testing for the individual?
“Yes,” Pribble explained, “those who run out in the country or rural settings, tend to test better. The more heavily polluted the area that an athlete is in, the more impacted their VO2 Max Testing would be.”
So, can athletes use a VO2 or Lactate test in a mobile or on-the-go fashion? They absolutely can.
“There are definitely mobile metabolic cart testing machines, but they are very expensive. Doctors need to consider that metabolic carts are sensitive to changes in air pressure, so humidity and temperatures can vastly affect results,” Pribble said.
For example, Oklahoma cities at a higher elevation, like Guymon, will render largely different results than that of a flatter location in the state, like Atoka or Eufaula.
Pribble further detailed, “Lactate testing however is way easier since it doesn’t involve inspired or expired gasses, a simple finger prick or blood sample is used. It [Lactate testing] could be done on a track and would not be affected by the weather.”
How exactly can all this science and in-depth analysis of oxygen and carbon dioxide help an athlete with bettering their performance? How can an athlete improve poor VO2 or Lactate Threshold test results?
As mentioned above, when an individual understands their aerobic capacity and fitness, they can gain more knowledge on where they stand in terms of performance.
Pribble highlighted how training can be mapped out and how diet or hydration could also affect test data.
“Results can help lay out their intensity of training for future training … If someone is undernourished or dehydrated on their first test, it would look like they improved if they were to renourish themselves and retest.”
When discussing glycogen, which is the stored form of glucose, being made up of many connected glucose molecules, with glucose or sugar being the body’s main source of energy. Dr. Pibble elaborated, “For long-distance runners, if an individual has their reserves of glycogen depleted, they would not perform as well compared to if they had ample amounts of glycogen.”
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