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Mitchell et al (2018) J Appl Physiol accepted.pdf (1.92 MB)

Critical power is positively related to skeletal muscle capillarity and type I muscle fibers in endurance trained individuals

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journal contribution
posted on 2018-08-17, 13:52 authored by Emma A. Mitchell, Neil MartinNeil Martin, Stephen BaileyStephen Bailey, Richard FergusonRichard Ferguson
The asymptote (critical power; CP) and curvature constant (W′) of the hyperbolic power duration relationship can predict performance within the severe-intensity exercise domain. However, the extent which these parameters relate to skeletal muscle morphology is less clear, particularly in endurance trained individuals who, relative to their lesser trained counterparts, possess skeletal muscles that can support high levels of oxygen transport and oxidative capacity i.e. elevated type I fiber proportion and cross-sectional area (CSA) and capillarity. Fourteen endurance trained males performed a maximal incremental test to determine peak oxygen uptake (V̇ O2peak; 63.2 ± 4.1 ml.min-1.kg-1), maximal aerobic power (406 ± 63 W), and 3-5 constant load tests to task failure for the determination of CP (303 ± 52 W) and W' (17.0 ± 3.0 kJ). Skeletal muscle biopsies were obtained from the vastus lateralis and analyzed for % fiber type proportion, CSA and indices of capillarity. CP was positively correlated with the % proportion (r = 0.79; P = 0.001) and CSA (r = 0.73; P =0.003) of type I fibers, capillary to fiber ratio (r = 0.88; P < 0.001) and capillary contacts around type I fibers (r = 0.94; P < 0.001) and type II fibers (r = 0.68; P = 0.008). W' was not correlated with any morphological variables. These data between CP and skeletal muscle capillarity. Our findings support the assertion that CP is an important parameter of aerobic function and offer novel insights into the physiological bases of CP.

History

School

  • Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences

Published in

Journal of Applied Physiology

Volume

125

Issue

3

Pages

737-745

Citation

MITCHELL, E.A. ... et al., 2018. Critical power is positively related to skeletal muscle capillarity and type I muscle fibers in endurance trained individuals. Journal of Applied Physiology, 125(3), pp. 737-745.

Publisher

© American Physiological Society

Version

  • AM (Accepted Manuscript)

Publisher statement

This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Acceptance date

2018-05-29

Publication date

2018-09-10

Copyright date

2018

Notes

This paper was accepted for publication in the journal Journal of Applied Physiology and the definitive published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.01126.2017

ISSN

8750-7587

eISSN

1522-1601

Language

  • en