Published in:
01-03-2010 | Original Article
Correspondences between continuous and intermittent exercises intensities in healthy prepubescent children
Authors:
Benoit Borel, Erwan Leclair, Delphine Thevenet, Laurent Beghin, Serge Berthoin, Claudine Fabre
Published in:
European Journal of Applied Physiology
|
Issue 5/2010
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Abstract
The aim of this article is to determine correspondences between three levels of continuous and intermittent exercise (CE and IE, respectively) in terms of steady-state oxygen uptake \( (\dot{V}{\text{O}}_{{ 2\,{\text{SS}}}} ) \) and heart rate (HR) in children. Fourteen healthy children performed seven exercises on a treadmill: one graded test for the determination of maximal aerobic speed (MAS), three CE at 60, 70 and 80% of MAS (CE60, CE70 and CE80) and three IE (alternating 15 s of exercise intercepted with 15 s of passive recovery) at 90, 100 and 110% of MAS (IE90, IE100 and IE110). Mean \( \dot{V}{\text{O}}_{{ 2\,{\text{SS}}}} \) and mean HR were determined for both continuous and intermittent exercises. For comparison, three associations were designed: CE60 versus IE90, CE70 versus IE100 and CE80 versus IE110. No \( \dot{V}{\text{O}}_{{ 2\,{\text{SS}}}} \) difference was observed for CE60 versus IE90 and CE70 versus IE100 whereas a significant difference (P < 0.01) was found for CE80 versus IE110 (1.36 ± 0.45 vs. 1.19 ± 0.38 L min−1, respectively). Significant linear regressions were found for the three CE versus IE associations for \( \dot{V}{\text{O}}_{{ 2\,{\text{SS}}}} \) (0.60 < r
2 < 0.99, P < 0.05). For the three associations, mean HR presented no significant difference. Only one significant relation was found for CE80 versus IE110 association (r² = 0.49, P < 0.05). Correspondences between CE and IE intensities are possible in terms of \( \dot{V}{\text{O}}_{{ 2\,{\text{SS}}}} \) whatever the level of exercise; even if for high intensities, \( \dot{V}{\text{O}}_{{ 2\,{\text{SS}}}} \) was higher during CE. These results demonstrated that it is possible to diversify the exercise modality while conserving exercise individualization.