Prediction of anaerobic capacity: a performance test employing an optimal exercise stress.

Highly trained sprinters, marathon runners, and untrained male subjects sprinted around a 400-metre track with their running times and speeds throughout the sprint being continuously monitored. Through comparison with their individual anaerobic capacities (previously determined in the laboratory), a performance test was developed for predicting subjects' anaerobic energy expenditure. The format of this test imposed an optimal stress upon the anaerobic energy components through a combination of work intensity and prolongation of the exercise stress. Specifically, through multiple regression analysis, it was determined that the sprinting time to 256-metres and running speed from 256-metres through 329-metres provided the highest predicting of anaerobic capacity (significant at the 0.01 level of confidence).