PubMed HealthSearch

Biomedical subjects

J A Hawley

Publications and source records attributed to J A Hawley.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Fuel metabolism during ultra-endurance exercise.

Cyclists either ingested 300 ml 100 g/l U-[14C] glucose solution every 30 min during 6 h rides at 55% of VO2max (n=6) or they consumed unlabelled glucose and were infused with U-[14C] lactate (n=5). Maintenance of euglycaemia limited rises in circulating free fatty acids, noradrenaline and adrenaline concentrations to 0.9+/-0. 1 mM, 27+/-4 nM and 2.0+/-0.5 nM, respectively, and sustained the oxidation of glucose and lactate. As muscle glycogen oxidation declined from 100+/-13 to 71+/-9 micromol/min/kg in the last 3 h of exercise, glucose and lactate oxidation and interconversion rates remained at approximately 60 and 50 and at about 4 and 5 micromol/min/kg, respectively. Continued high rates of carbohydrate oxidation led to a total oxidation of around 270 g glucose, 130 g plasma lactate and 530 g muscle glycogen. Oxidation of some 530 g of muscle glycogen far exceeded the predicted (about 250 g) initial glycogen content of the active muscles and suggested that there must have been a considerable diffusion of unlabelled lactate from glycogen breakdown in inactive muscle fibres to adjacent active muscle fibres via the interstitial fluid that did not equilibrate with 14C lactate in the circulation.

Beverages

Reproducibility of self-paced treadmill performance of trained endurance runners.

The reproducibility of performance in a laboratory test impacts on the statistical power of that test to detect changes of performance in experiments. The purpose of this study was to determine the reproducibility of performance of distance runners completing a 60 min time trial (TT) on a motor-driven treadmill. Eight trained distance runners (age 27 +/- 7yrs, peak oxygen consumption [VO2peak] 66 +/- 5 ml x min(-1) x kg(-1), mean +/- SD) performed the TT on three occasions separated by 7-10 days. Throughout each TT the runners controlled the speed of the treadmill and could view current speed and elapsed time, but they did not know the elapsed or final distance. On the basis of heart-rate, it is estimated that the subjects ran at an average intensity equivalent to 80-83% of VO2peak. The distance run in 1 h did not vary substantially between trials (16.2 +/- 1.4 km, 15.9 +/- 1.4 km, and 16.1 +/- 1.2 km for TTs 1-3 respectively, p = 0.5). The coefficient of variation (CV) for individual runners was 2.7% (95% Cl = 1.8-4.0%) and the test-retest reliability expressed as an intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.90 (95% Cl = 0.72-0.98). Reproducibility of performance in this test was therefore acceptable. However, higher reproducibility is required for experimental studies aimed at detecting the smallest worthwhile changes in performance with realistic sample sizes.

Adult

Carbohydrate ingestion immediately before exercise does not improve 20 km time trial performance in well trained cyclists.

This study examined the effects of carbohydrate ingestion on 20 km cycle time-trial (TT) performance in 14 well-trained cyclists (11 males, 3 females; peak oxygen uptake [VO2peak] 4.52 +/- 0.60 l/min; values are mean +/- SD). All subjects performed two experimental trials on their own bicycles mounted on an air-braked ergometry system (Kingcycle). Subjects were instructed to maintain the same training and dietary regimens before trials, which were conducted in a random order, 3-7 days apart, and at the same time of day for each subject. On the day of a trial, subjects reported to the laboratory and ingested an 8 ml/kg body mass bolus of either a 6.8 g/100 ml commercial carbohydrate-electrolyte (CHO) beverage (39 +/- 4 g of CHO), or a coloured, flavoured placebo. Ten min after finishing the drink, subjects commenced a 5 min warm-up at 150 W, before commencing the 20 km TT. The average power output (312 +/- 40 vs 311 +/- 38 W) and heart-rate (171 +/- 6 vs 171 +/- 5 beats/min for CHO and placebo, respectively) during the two rides did not differ between treatments. Accordingly, the performance times for the two TT's were the same (27:41 +/- 1:39 min:sec, for both CHO and placebo). We conclude that the ingestion of approximately 40 g of carbohydrate does not improve maximal cycling performance lasting approximately 30 min, and that carbohydrate availability, in the form of circulating blood glucose, does not limit high-intensity exercise of this duration.

Adolescent

Prediction of maximal oxygen uptake from a 20-m shuttle run as measured directly in runners and squash players.

The aim of this study was to assess the validity of the multistage shuttle run test in predicting maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max) in athletes trained in sports with different physical demands. Over a 14-day period, 10 male long-distance runners (continuous high-intensity exercise) and 10 male squash players (intermittent high-intensity exercise) performed, in random order, the multistage shuttle run test and a maximal treadmill protocol of increasing elevation which elicited VO2 max. Compared with direct measurement of VO2 max, the shuttle run test significantly underpredicted the VO2 max of the group of runners (n = 10; P < 0.01) and of the athletes as a whole (n = 20; P < 0.01). The correlation (r) between VO2 max determined by the shuttle run test and by the treadmill protocol was 0.61 (P < 0.05) for the squash players, 0.71 (P < 0.05) for the runners and 0.67 (P < 0.01) for the athletes as a whole. As the subjects represented athletes trained specifically in sports with different physical demands, this may explain why the correlations between the shuttle run test and direct measurement of VO2 max are less robust than those reported in previous studies. Furthermore, our results indicate that there are sport-specific differences when predicting VO2 max from the multistage shuttle run test.

Adult

A new reliable laboratory test of endurance performance for road cyclists.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to devise and evaluate a laboratory test of cycling performance that simulates the variable power demands of competitive road racing. The test is a 100-km time trial interspersed with four 1-km and four 4-km sprints. METHODS: On three occasions separated by 5-7 d, eight endurance-trained cyclists (peak oxygen uptake 5.0 +/- 0.7 L.min-1, peak power output 411 +/- 43 W, mean +/- SD) performed the test on their own bikes mounted on an air-braked Kingcycle ergometer. Subjects were free to regulate their power output but were asked to complete each sprint and the full distance as quickly as possible. The only feedback given to the cyclists during each test was elapsed distance. RESULTS: In the first test, time for the 100 km and mean times for the 1-km and 4-km sprints were 151:42 +/- 10:36, 1:16 +/- 0:06, and 5:31 +/- 0:16 min:s, respectively; these times improved by 1.6-2.2% in the second test, but there was little further improvement in the third test (0.7 to -0.5%). The between-test correlation for 100-km time was 0.93 (95% CI 0.79 to 0.98), and the within-cyclist coefficient of variation was 1.7% (95% CI 1.1 to 2.5%). Mean sprint performance showed similar good reliability (within-subject variation and correlations for the 1-km and 4-km sprint times of 1.9%, 2.0%, 0.93, and 0.81, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The high reliability of this laboratory test will make the test useful for research on performance of competitive road cyclists.

Adult

Carbohydrate intake during prolonged cycling minimizes effect of glycemic index of preexercise meal.

We studied the effects of the glycemic index (GI) of preexercise meals on metabolism and performance when carbohydrate (CHO) was ingested throughout exercise. Six well-trained cyclists performed three counterbalanced trials of 2-h cycling at approximately 70% of maximal oxygen uptake, followed by a performance ride of 300 kJ. Meals consumed 2 h before exercise consisted of 2 g CHO/kg body mass of either high-GI potato (HGI trial) or low-GI pasta (LGI trial), or of a low-energy jelly (Con trial). Immediately before and throughout exercise, subjects ingested a 10 g/100 ml [U-14C]glucose solution for a total of 24 ml/kg body mass. Despite differences in preexercise glucose, insulin, and free fatty acids concentrations among trials, both total CHO oxidation for HGI, LGI, and Con trials, respectively, during steady-state exercise [403 +/- 16, 376 +/- 29, and 373 +/- 24 (SE) g/2 h] and oxidation of the ingested CHO (65 +/- 6, 57 +/- 6, and 63 +/- 5 g/2 h) were similar. There was no difference in time to complete the subsequent performance ride (946 +/- 23, 954 +/- 35, and 970 +/- 26 s for HGI, LGI, and Con trials, respectively). When CHO is ingested during exercise in amounts presently recommended by sports nutrition guidelines, preexercise CHO intake has little effect on metabolism or on subsequent performance during prolonged cycling (approximately 2.5 h).

Adult

Strategies to enhance fat utilisation during exercise.

Compared with the limited capacity of the human body to store carbohydrate (CHO), endogenous fat depots are large and represent a vast source of fuel for exercise. However, fatty acid (FA) oxidation is limited, especially during intense exercise, and CHO remains the major fuel for oxidative metabolism. In the search for strategies to improve athletic performance, recent interest has focused on several nutritional procedures which may theoretically promote FA oxidation, attenuate the rate of muscle glycogen depletion and improve exercise capacity. In some individuals the ingestion of caffeine improves endurance capacity, but L-carnitine supplementation has no effect on either rates of FA oxidation, muscle glycogen utilisation or performance. Likewise, the ingestion of small amounts of medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) has no major effect on either fat metabolism or exercise performance. On the other hand, in endurance-trained individuals, substrate utilisation during submaximal [60% of peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak)] exercise can be altered substantially by the ingestion of a high fat (60 to 70% of energy intake), low CHO (15 to 20% of energy intake) diet for 7 to 10 days. Adaptation to such a diet, however, does not appear to alter the rate of working muscle glycogen utilisation during prolonged, moderate intensity exercise, nor consistently improve performance. At present, there is insufficient scientific evidence to recommend that athletes either ingest fat, in the form of MCTs, during exercise, or "fat-adapt" in the weeks prior to a major endurance event to improve athletic performance.

Caffeine

Skeletal muscle buffering capacity and endurance performance after high-intensity interval training by well-trained cyclists.

Skeletal muscle buffering capacity (beta m), enzyme activities and exercise performance were measured before and after 4 weeks of high-intensity, submaximal interval training (HIT) undertaken by six well-trained competitive cyclists [mean maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) = 66.2 ml.kg-1.min-1]. HIT replaced a portion of habitual endurance training and consisted of six sessions, each of six to eight repetitions of 5 min duration at 80% of peak sustained power output (PPO) separated by 1 min of recovery. beta m increased from 206.6 (17.9) to 240.4 (34.1) mumol H+.g muscle dw-1.pH-1 after HIT (P = 0.05). PPO, time to fatigue at 150% PPO (TF150) and 40-km cycle time trial performance (TT40) all significantly improved after HIT (P < 0.05). In contrast, there was no change in the activity of either phosphofructokinase or citrate synthase. In addition, beta m correlated significantly with TT40 performance before HIT (r = -0.82, P < 0.05) and the relationship between change in beta m and change in TT40 was close to significance (r = -0.74). beta m did not correlate with TF150. These results indicate that beta m may be an important determinant of relatively short-duration (< 60 min) endurance cycling activity and responds positively to just six sessions of high-intensity, submaximal interval training.

Adult

Metabolic and performance adaptations to interval training in endurance-trained cyclists.

This study examined the effects of sustained high-intensity interval training (HIT) on the athletic performances and fuel utilisation of eight male endurance-trained cyclists. Before HIT, each subject undertook three baseline peak power output Wpeak tests and two simulated 40-km time-trial cycling performance (TT40) tests, of which the variabilities were 1.5 (1.3)% and 1.0 (0.5)%, respectively [mean (SD)]. Over 6 weeks, the cyclists then replaced 15 (2)% of their 300 (66) km.week-1 endurance training with 12 HIT sessions, each consisting of six to nine 5-min rides at 80% of Wpeak, separated by a l-min recovery. HIT increased Wpeak from 404 (40) to 424 (53) W (P < 0.01) and improved TT40 speeds from 42.0 (3.6) to 43.0 (4.2) km.h-1 (P < 0.05). Faster TT40 performances were due to increases in both the absolute work rates from 291 (43) to 327 (51) W (P < 0.05) and the relative work rates from 72.6 (5.3)% of pre-HIT Wpeak to 78.1 (2.8)% of post-HIT Wpeak (P < 0.05). HIT decreased carbohydrate (CHO) oxidation, plasma lactate concentration and ventilation when the cyclists rode at the same absolute work rates of 60, 70 and 80% of pre-HIT Wpeak (P < 0.05), but not when they exercised at the same relative (% post-HIT Wpeak) work rates. Thus, the ability of the cyclists to sustain higher percentages of Wpeak in TT40 performances after HIT was not due to lower rates of CHO oxidation. Higher relative work rates in the TT40 rides following HIT increased the estimated rates of CHO oxidation from approximately 4.3 to approximately 5.1 g.min-1.

Adaptation, Physiological

Effects of 3 days of carbohydrate supplementation on muscle glycogen content and utilisation during a 1-h cycling performance.

This study compared the effects of supplementing the normal diets of six trained cyclists [maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) 4.5 (0.36) l.min-1; values are mean (SD)] with additional carbohydrate (CHO) on muscle glycogen utilisation during a 1-h cycle time-trial (TT). Using a randomised crossover design, subjects consumed either their normal diet (NORM) for 3 days, which consisted of 426 (137) g.day-1 CHO [5.9 (1.4) g. kg-1 body mass (BM)], or additional CHO (SUPP) to increase their intake to 661 (76) g.day-1 [9.3 (0.7) g. kg-1 BM]. The SUPP diet elevated muscle glycogen content from 459 (83) to 565 (62) mmol.kg-1 dry weight (d.w.) (P < 0.05). However, despite the increased pre-exercise muscle glycogen stores, there was no difference in the distance cycled during the TT [40.41 (1.44) vs 40.18 (1.76) km for NORM and SUPP, respectively]. With NORM, muscle glycogen declined from 459 (83) to 175 (64) mmol.kg-1 d.w., whereas with SUPP the corresponding values were 565 (62) and 292 (113) mmol.kg-1 d.w. Accordingly, both muscle glycogen utilisation [277 (64) vs 273 (114) mmol.kg-1 d.w.] and total CHO oxidation [169 (20) vs 165 (30) g.h-1 for NORM and SUPP, respectively] were similar. Neither were there any differences in plasma glucose or lactate concentrations during the two experimental trials. Plasma glucose concentration averaged 5.5 (0.5) and 5.6 (0.6) mmol.l-1, while plasma lactate concentration averaged 4.4 (1.9) and 4.4 (2.3) mmol.l-1 for NORM and SUPP, respectively. The results of this study show that when well-trained subjects increase the CHO content of their diet for 3 days from 6 to 9 g.kg-1 BM there is only a modest increase in muscle glycogen content. Since supplementary CHO did not improve TT performance, we conclude that additional CHO provides no benefit to performance for athletes who compete in intense, continuous events lasting 1 h. Furthermore, the substantial muscle CHO reserves observed at the termination of exercise indicate that whole-muscle glycogen depletion does not determine fatigue at this exercise intensity and duration.

Adult

Effect of meal frequency and timing on physical performance.

Two areas of sports nutrition in which the periodicity of eating has been studied relate to: (1) the habitually high energy intakes of many athletes, and (2) the optimization of carbohydrate (CHO) availability to enhance performance. The present paper examines how the timing and frequency of food and fluid intake can assist the athlete and physically-active person to improve their exercise performance in these areas. Frequent eating occasions provide a practical strategy allowing athletes to increase energy intake while concomitantly reducing the gastric discomfort of infrequent large meals. The optimization of CHO stores is a special challenge for athletes undertaking prolonged training or competition sessions. This is a cyclical process with post-exercise CHO ingestion promoting muscle and liver glycogen re-synthesis; pre-exercise feedings being practised to optimize substrate availability and feedings during exercise providing a readily-available source of exogenous fuel as endogenous stores become depleted. The timing and frequency of CHO intake at these various stages are crucial determinants for optimizing fuel availability to enhance exercise capacity.

Dietary Carbohydrates

Nutritional strategies to minimize fatigue during prolonged exercise: fluid, electrolyte and energy replacement.

While the presence of palatable (20 mmol l-1) concentrations of NaCl in drinks containing carbohydrate consumed during intense exercise would not be expected to promote absorption or significantly help maintain fluid balance, there is no doubt that athletes should ingest some from of carbohydrate (other than fructose) during moderate-intensity exercise lasting > 90 min. As only approximately 20 g of ingested carbohydrate is oxidized in the first hour of exercise, athletes should probably consume 100 ml every 10 min of a dilute (3-5 g 100 ml-1) carbohydrate solution and thereafter increase the carbohydrate concentration to approximately 10 g 100 ml-1 to match the peak (approximately 1 g min-1) rates of plasma glucose oxidation. Drinking more than those amounts of carbohydrate may increase muscle glycogen oxidation by attenuating the fall in plasma insulin concentration and thereby delaying fat mobilization, especially at relatively low (55% of peak oxygen consumption) intensity exercise. As carbohydrate ingestion does not slow the rate of glycogen utilization in working muscle, it is also advisable for endurance athletes to start exercise with an adequate supply of muscle glycogen, irrespective of whether or not they ingest carbohydrate during exercise. While carbohydrate ingestion 'spares' conversion of liver glycogen to plasma glucose and prevents hypoglycemia, it does not delay the fatigue associated with a low (approximately 20 mmol kg-1) glycogen content in working muscle. Conversely, increases in glycogen content of working muscle at the start of exercise have no effect on the rates of plasma glucose oxidation. Higher initial rates of glycogen utilization by active muscles in 'carbohydrate-loaded' subjects decrease the indirect oxidation (via lactate) of non-working muscle glycogen, rather than the conversion of liver glycogen to plasma glucose. Hence, athletes should ingest carbohydrate during endurance exercise even if they have 'carbohydrate-loaded' before exercise.

Dietary Carbohydrates

Nutritional strategies for promoting fat utilization and delaying the onset of fatigue during prolonged exercise.

Carbohydrate ingestion before and during endurance exercise delays the onset of fatigue (reduced power output). Therefore, endurance athletes are recommended to ingest diets high in carbohydrate (70% of total energy) during competition and training. However, increasing the availability of plasma free fatty acids has been shown to slow the rate of muscle and liver glycogen depletion by promoting the utilization of fat. Ingested fat, in the form of long-chain (C16-22) triacylglycerols, is largely unavailable during acute exercise, but medium-chain (C8-10) triacylglycerols are rapidly absorbed and oxidized. We have shown that the ingestion of medium-chain triacylglycerols in combination with carbohydrate spares muscle carbohydrate stores during 2 h of submaximal (< 70% VO2 peak) cycling exercise, and improves 40 km time-trial performance. These data suggest that by combining carbohydrate and medium-chain triacylglycerols as a pre-exercise supplement and as a nutritional supplement during exercise, fat oxidation will be enhanced, and endogenous carbohydrate will be spared. We have also examined the chronic metabolic adaptations and effects on substrate utilization and endurance performance when athletes ingest a diet that is high in fat (> 70% by energy). Dietary fat adaptation for a period of at least 2-4 weeks has resulted in a nearly two-fold increase in resistance to fatigue during prolonged, low- to moderate-intensity cycling (< 70% VO2 peak). Moreover, preliminary studies suggest that mean cycling 20 km time-trial performance following prolonged submaximal exercise is enhanced by 80 s after dietary fat adaptation and 3 days of carbohydrate loading. Thus the relative contribution of fuel substrate to prolonged endurance activity may be modified by training, pre-exercise feeding, habitual diet, or by artificially altering the hormonal milieu or the availability of circulating fuels. The time course and dose-response of these effects on maximizing the oxidative contribution of fat for exercise metabolism and in exercise performance have not been systematically studied during moderate- to high-intensity exercise in humans.

Adipose Tissue

Training techniques to improve fatigue resistance and enhance endurance performance.

Despite their best efforts, sports scientists have found it difficult to persuade elite athletes to experiment with their training regimens. Thus, until recently, exercise physiologists have had limited impact on the training practices of successful athletes, with most of the innovations in the training patterns of the best athletes coming from the empirical observations of top-level coaches. One form of training recognized by sports scientists and used by athletes for several decades in interval/transition training. Such training consists of a number of exercise bouts alternated with short rest intervals of more slowly paced activity and is thought to improve the fatigue resistance of the active muscles by exposing them to sustained, high-intensity exercise at the athlete's maximal steady-state pace. Few scientific studies, however, have examined the effects of transition training on the performances of competitive athletes. This paper identifies the physiological factors associated with successful endurance performance, and summarizes the results of investigations on competitive endurance cyclists which examined the time-course of changes in performance in response to a sustained, high-intensity interval training programme.

Adult

Effects of steady-state versus stochastic exercise on subsequent cycling performance.

The aims of this investigation were to evaluate the physiological responses to laboratory based stochastic exercise and to assess the effects of stochastic versus steady-state exercise on subsequent cycling time trial (TT) performance. Six competitive cyclists (peak power output (PPO) 432 +/- 39 W (values are mean +/- SD) undertook in a random order two 150-min paced rides that were either constant load (58% of PPO) or stochastic in nature (58 +/- 12.2% of PPO). These rides were immediately followed by a 20-km TT performance on an air-braked ergometer. Mean heart rate (HR) responses throughout the 150-min paced rides and during the subsequent TT were not significantly different between trials. Yet, despite the similarities in HR, the mean time for the TT was significantly faster (26:32 +/- 1:30 vs 28:08 +/- 1:47 min, P < 0.05) and the mean power output was significantly greater (340.3 +/- 44.2 vs 302.5 +/- 42.3 W; 77.8 +/- 10.2 vs 70.0 +/- 9.8% of PPO, P < 0.05) following the steady-state ride. These results demonstrate that following 150 min of steady-state riding, subsequent 20 km TT performance was significantly improved when compared with 150 min of stochastic exercise.

Adult

Fluid balance in team sports. Guidelines for optimal practices.

Team sports require players to perform multiple work bouts at near maximal effort, punctuated with intervals of low intensity exercise or rest for the duration of a game. Such activity patterns are associated with a significant loss of body water which has a negative impact on physical and mental performance, as well as temperature regulation. There are a number of ways in which sweat losses incurred during team sports differ from those measured during prolonged, continuous exercise. Firstly, the work rate in team sports is intermittent, largely unpredictable and random in nature. Second, analyses of various team sports reveal that such games are characterised by a high degree of inter and intra-individual variability in work rates between players from the same sport. Finally, team players are less able to anticipate sweat losses than athletes competing in events which involve prolonged, continuous, moderate intensity exercise. Yet, compared with most endurance events, many team sports offer frequent opportunities to ingest adequate volumes of fluid and thus prevent exercise-induced hypohydration. The present review details the findings of modern studies which have determined body water losses and fluid intake practices of athletes from a variety of team sports. Special considerations which influence sweat loss and fluid intake that are unique to team sports are discussed, and guidelines for sound hydration strategies during training and competition are provided.

Basketball

Carbohydrate-loading and exercise performance. An update.

This review suggests that there is little or no effect of elevating pre-exercise muscle glycogen contents above normal resting values on a single exhaustive bout of high-intensity exercise lasting less than 5 minutes. Nor is there any benefit of increasing starting muscle glycogen content on moderate-intensity running or cycling lasting 60 to 90 minutes. In such exercise substantial quantities of glycogen remain in the working muscles at the end of exercise. However, elevated starting muscle glycogen content will postpone fatigue by approximately equal to 20% in endurance events lasting more than 90 minutes. During this type of exercise, exhaustion usually coincides with critically low (25 mmol/kg wet weight) muscle glycogen contents, suggesting the supply of energy from glycogen utilisation cannot be replaced by an increased oxidation of blood glucose. Glycogen supercompensation may also improve endurance performance in which a set distance is covered as quickly as possible. In such exercise, high carbohydrate diets have been reported to improve performance by 2 to 3%.

Dietary Carbohydrates