The Role of Cadence on Oxygen Uptake Kinetics in Cycling

Description

Respiratory gas exchange measurements are a common method to assess physical fitness and endurance capabilities of athletes. We develop models for predicting oxygen uptake kinetics with respect to a persons power output on a cycle ergometer. These models have successfully been validated with ergometer cycling exercises at a constant cadence.

However cycling exercise in the field is not restricted to constant cadences. Therefore some open questions remain. For example:

  • Has a varying cadence an influence on the oxygen uptake and if so, to what extent?
  • Does the maximal oxygen uptake change for different cadences?
  • Finally, if there is an influence, how can we adjust our models appropriately?

Tasks

  1. Literature research
  2. Develop test profiles
  3. Data acquisition
  4. Evaluate the influence of cadence

For extension towards a thesis:

  1. Find a model for the relationship between cadence and oxygen uptake for given power.
  2. Improve existing models for oxygen uptake for given power outputs.

Prerequisites

  • Knowledge of MATLAB or similar numerical software packages is of advantage.

References

Cadence and Oxygen Uptake

  1. Barstow, Thomas J., et al. "Influence of muscle fiber type and pedal frequency on oxygen uptake kinetics of heavy exercise." Journal of Applied Physiology 81.4 (1996): 1642-1650.
  2. Pringle, Jamie SM, et al. "Effect of pedal rate on primary and slow-component oxygen uptake responses during heavy-cycle exercise." Journal of Applied Physiology 94.4 (2003): 1501-1507.
  3. Billat, V. L., et al. "The Role of Cadence on the VO2 Slow Component in Cycling and Running in Triathletes." International journal of sports medicine 20 (1999): 429-437.

Oxygen Uptake

  1. Artiga Gonzalez, A., Bertschinger, R., Brosda, F., Dahmen, T., Thumm, P., Saupe, D., "Modeling Oxygen Dynamics under Variable Work Rate", Proceedings of the 3rd International Congress on Sport Sciences Research and Technology Support (icSPORTS 2), CITEPRESS Digital Library (ed.) , pp. 198-207, Lisbon, Portugal, November 2015.
  2. Poole, David C., and Andrew M. Jones. "Oxygen uptake kinetics." Comprehensive Physiology (2012).

Contact

Alexander Artiga Gonzalez

alexander@artigagonzalez.de