Influence of recovery mode (passive vs. active) on time spent at maximal oxygen uptake during an intermittent session in young and endurance-trained athletes

The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of recovery mode (active/passive) on time spent at high percentage of maximal oxygen uptake \({({V\hbox{O}}_{2{\rm max}})},\) i.e. above 90% of \({{V\hbox{O}}_{2{\rm max}}\;(t{90}{V\hbox{O}}_{2{\rm max}})}\) and above 95% of \({{V\hbox{O}}_{2{\rm max}}}\;(t95{{V\hbox{O}}_{2{\rm max}}})\) during a single short intermittent session. Eight endurance-trained male adolescents (15.9 ± 1.4 years) performed three field tests until exhaustion: a graded test to determine their \({{V\hbox{O}}_{2{\rm max}}}\) (57.4 ± 6.1 ml min⁻¹ kg⁻¹), and maximal aerobic velocity (MAV; 17.9 ± 0.4 km h⁻¹), and in a random order, two intermittent exercises consisting of repeated 30 s runs at 105% of MAV alternated with 30 s passive (IE_P) or active recovery (IE_A, 50% of MAV). Time to exhaustion (t _lim) was significantly longer for IE_P than for IE_A (2145 ± 829 vs. 1072 ± 388 s, P  <  0.01). No difference was found in \({t90{V\hbox{O}}_{2{\rm max}}}\) and \({t95{V\hbox{O}}_{2{\rm max}}}\) between IE_P (548 ± 499–316 ± 360 s) and IE_A (746 ± 417–459 ± 332 s). However, when expressed as a percentage of t _lim, \({t90{V\hbox{O}}_{2{\rm max}}}\) and \({t95{V\hbox{O}}_{2{\rm max}}}\) were significantly longer (P < 0.001 and P < 0.05, respectively) during IE_A (67.7 ± 19%–42.1 ± 27%) than during IE_P (24.2 ± 19%–13.8 ± 15%). Our results demonstrated no influence of recovery mode on absolute \({t90{V\hbox{O}}_{2{\rm max}}}\) or \({t95{V\hbox{O}}_{2{\rm max}}}\) mean values despite significantly longer t _lim values for IE_P than for IE_A. In conclusion, passive recovery allows a longer running time (t _lim) for a similar time spent at a high percentage of \({{V\hbox{O}}_{2{\rm max}}}.\)