Recovery from maximal effort exercise: lactate disappearance and subsequent performance

The effects of differing recovery patterns following maximal exercise on blood lactate disappearance and subsequent performance were examined. Nine subjects completed four randomly assigned experimental sessions. Each session consisted of a 5-min maximal effort performance test conducted on a Monark bicycle ergometer (T1) followed by 20 min of recovery and a second 5-min maximal effort performance test (T2). Blood lactate levels were measured during min 5, 10, 15, and 20 of recovery. Recovery patterns consisted of passive recovery (PR), active recovery below anaerobic threshold (AR less than AT), active recovery above anaerobic threshold (AR greater than AT), and active recovery above anaerobic threshold while breathing 100% oxygen (AR greater than AT + O2). Blood lactate levels prior to T2 were significantly different across treatments (P less than 0.05). Comparison among treatments and between T1 and T2 revealed no significant differences in work output. It was concluded that while lactate disappearance following severe exercise can be affected by varying the recovery pattern, elevated levels of blood lactate exert no demonstrable effect on maximal effort performance of 5-min duration.