Pierluigi Fiorella

EXERCISE INTENSITY AND PACING STRATEGY OF A 5-KM INDOOR RACE WALK DURING A WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT: A CASE STUDY

Vernillo, G, Piacentini, MF, Drake, A, Agnello, L, Fiorella, P, and La Torre, A. Exercise intensity and pacing strategy of a 5-km indoor race walk during a world record attempt: A case study. J Strength Cond Res 25(7): 2048-2052, 2011—The aim of this case study was to describe the physiological and regulatory processes, by means of heart rate (HR) monitoring and pacing strategy, in a top-level race walker (age: 32 years; height: 1.76 m; body mass: 62 kg; training volume: 130-150 km·wk−1) who was focused on the attainment of the 5-km indoor race walk (RW) World Record. The HRmean was 185 ± 14.9 b·min−1, with an HRmean/HRmax ratio of 0.96. Almost the whole race (91.8%) was performed to an intensity ≥90% of the HRmax; lower intensity work was negligible (8.1%). The race profile was a reverse J-shaped pacing curve; in fact, the athlete completed the first 1,000 m in the fastest time, slowing during the middle 3,000 m, and increasing the speed during the final 1,000 m of the race. Despite the attempt failed (the athlete performed only the 2009 World leading performance, 18 minutes 23 seconds 47 tenths), these data suggest that a more linear strain distribution for the entire performance would be optimal instead of a fast-start strategy, which leads to a drastic decrement of the walking velocity. Moreover, this study supports the use of HR monitoring combined with the regulation of the effort to understand the physiological and regulatory processes during an indoor RW event.

Combined endurance and resistance circuit training in highly trained/top-level female race walkers: a case report

Race walking can be considered as a long-distance performance and it can be described as the technical and athletic expression of fast walking. The physiological determinants of these performances have been well documented; moreover, several recent studies demonstrated that concurrent strength and endurance training can improve performance in endurance athletes. Thus, the purpose of this report was to monitor the adaptations of a combined strength, performed by circuit resistance training (CRT), and endurance programme in two top level female race walkers. The subjects were examined before and after 12 weeks of CRT and endurance training and performed an incremental field test to determine maximum oxygen uptake (.VO2max), running economy (RE) and lactate threshold (LT). The results showed that 12 weeks of combined CRT and endurance programme did not correspond to an alteration in.VO2max and RE, while improvements in LT and 5-km performance were seen.

Criterion and longitudinal validity of a fixed-distance incremental running test for the determination of lactate thresholds in field settings

La Torre, A, Fiorella, P, Santos, TM, Marcello, F, Mauri, C, and Impellizzeri, FM. Criterion and longitudinal validity of a fixed-distance incremental running test for the determination of lactate thresholds in field setting. J Strength Cond Res 26(1): 146–151, 2012—The aim of this study was to examine the criterion validity of 2 lactate thresholds (LTs, intensity corresponding to 1 mmol·L−1 above baseline; onset of blood lactate accumulation, intensity at 4 mmol·L−1) determined with a fixed-distance incremental field test by assessing their correlation with those obtained using a traditional fixed-time laboratory protocol. A second aim was to verify the longitudinal validity by examining the relationships between the changes in LTs obtained with the 2 protocols. To determine the LTs, 12 well-trained male middle and long distance amateur and competitive runners training from 4 to 7 d·wk−1 (age 25 [5] years, body mass 66 [5] kg, estimated &OV0312;O2max 58.6 [4.9] ml·min−1·kg−1, SD in parentheses) performed in 2 separate sessions an incremental running test on the field starting at 12 km·h−1 and increasing the speed by 1 km·h−1 every 1,200 m (FixD test) and an incremental treadmill test in the laboratory starting at 12 km·h−1 and increasing the speed by 1 km·h−1 every 6 minutes. The 2 tests were repeated after 6–12 weeks. A nearly perfect relationship was found between the running speeds at LTs determined with the 2 protocols (r = 0.95 [CI95% 0.83–0.99]; p < 0.001). The correlations between longitudinal changes in LTs were very large (0.78 [0.32–0.95; p = 0.006]). The heart rate corresponding to the LTs were not significantly different. This study showed the criterion and longitudinal validity of LTs determined with a protocol consisting of fixed-distance intervals performed in field setting.