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Comparison of critical speed determined from track running and treadmill tests in elite runners

1996; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Volume: 28; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1097/00005768-199605000-00013

1530-0315

KATHLEEN J. KRANENBURG, David J. Smith,

Sports injuries and prevention

The purpose of this study was to compare critical speed determined from a field test of maximal effort runs between 3 and 15 min on a running track and a laboratory test of high-speed runs on a treadmill with a 10-km criterion performance. Nine highly trained male runners (VO2max 67.7 ± 4.1 ml·kg·min-1) participated in the study. Critical speed was determined from three maximal runs (907, 2267.5, and 4081.5 m) on a 453.5-m indoor running track and from three high speed runs on a treadmill. The treadmill speeds were individualized so that exhaustion was reached in approximately 3, 7, and 13 min. All subjects participated in a 10-km cross-country race (measured distance 9.8 km) on a flat and dry course. Track critical speed (293 m·min-1) was correlated (r = 0.92,P < 0.001) with race speed (293 m·min-1), whereas treadmill critical speed (300 m·min-1) had the same correlation but over predicted race performance. It was concluded that although both tests were correlated with 9.8-km race performance, track-determined critical speed was easy to administer with highly trained runners and was very similar to 10-km race speed.