IMPORTANCE AND CORRECTNESS OF THE TERM “ANAEROBIC THRESHOLD”. THRESHOLD CHANGES OF COMPENSATORY AND ADAPTIVE BODY REACTIONS IN INCREASING PHYSICAL EXERTION

Abstract

A distinction of the physical exertion into phases is necessary for on-time decisionmaking of the correct clinical decisions in medicine and for evaluation of the level ofsportsmen professional preparedness in sport medicine.Aim. 1) To reveal the consequence of compensatory reactions in human bodyduring increasing physical exertion (PE). 2) To evaluate correctness of the term“anaerobic threshold”.Material and methods. Totally 28 triathletes included and 35 healthy non-trained individuals underwent cardiorespiratory test on treadmill using equipment “Oxycon Pro” by Jager, Germany. Participants were instructed to reach maximum effort.Physiological stages of compensatory mechanisms involvement during PE wereevaluated by lactate measurements, pH and HCO in venous blood and gasexchange shifts.Results. By the results of the current study we distinguished four main physiologic stages of PE. The first physiological stage is a threshold break in lactate level — lactate threshold. The second — beginning of pH decrease in venous blood — pH-threshold. The third physiologic stage — point of respiratory compensation. The fourth stage relates to the moment of PE when aerobicmetabolism is at “apogee” and the increase of energy production by aerobic pathway is not further possible – aerobis limit. The term “anaerobic threshold” is not relevant to any of these stages.Conclusion. 1. According to the results of the study it is possible to distinguish fourphysiologic stages that appear during increasing PE: lactate threshold, pHthreshold,point of respiratory compensation and aerobic limit. 2. The term“anaerobic threshold” is not correct and does not reflect changes of physiologic processes in the human body during physical exertion.

Keywords

• cardiorespiratory test
• compensatory-adaptive stages of physical exertion