High intensity exercise

Many sports require participants to exercise at intensities above their maximal aerobic power (V max), either in a single effort (as in sprint events in athletics, swimming or cycling) or multiple sprints where each bout is separated by a limited recovery period. Irrespective of the duration and number, sprints are comprised of three phases: acceleration, maximal speed and speed maintenance. The relative importance of each of these phases is largely dependent on the duration of the sprint. The test(s) used to assess high intensity exercise performance needs to closely match the sport-specific demands on the athletes. For example, assessing high intensity exercise performance with a football player will require a different test to that used to assess the performance of a 400 m runner; the average distance most players in the football codes sprint is <20 m and this means that acceleration (rather than maximal speed and speed maintenance) is important. In contrast, maximal speed and speed maintenance will be relatively more important for a 400 m runner.