Effect of recovery mode on exercise time to exhaustion, cardiorespiratory responses, and blood lactate after prior, intermittent supramaximal exercise.

This study aimed to determine the effect of 3 different recovery modes (passive [PR], active [AR], and dynamic stretching [SR]) on exercise time to exhaustion (Tlim) and cardiorespiratory and blood lactate responses during supramaximal exercise. Exercise sessions consisted of 2 series of 4 repeated, intermittent supramaximal cycling exercise interspersed in random order with PR, AR, or SR before the supramaximal continuous cycling time limit (Tlim) exercise test performed at 120% of maximal aerobic power. Ten healthy volunteer soccer athletes aged 25.7 ± 2.4 years participated in this study. During each exercise session, heart rate (HR), oxygen consumption V(O2)), blood lactate concentration, and Tlim exercise performance were recorded. Higher values were obtained in HR (p < 0.01) and in V(O)2 (p < 0.001) with SR and AR compared with PR. Moreover, lower blood lactate concentration (p < 0.01) was observed with SR and AR compared with PR. A greater Tlim exercise duration was obtained for SR compared with AR (p < 0.05) and PR (p < 0.01). Dynamic stretching appeared as the best recovery mode to enhance performance and cardiorespiratory and lactate responses during intermittent supramaximal cycling exercise.