Ventilatory threshold in various groups of highly trained athletes.

The ventilatory threshold (VT) was determined on a treadmill in highly trained male marathon, male and female long-distance, young male long-distance, adult male and female and young female middle-distance runners, modern pentathlonists, adult canoeists of both sexes, young male canoeists and football players, and on a bicycle ergometer in table tennis players, water slalom paddlers, young female canoeists rowers, and ice hockey players. Young female canoeists were also examined on the paddling ergometer and rowers on the rowing ergometer. VT expressed in %VO2 max was higher the longer the duration of racing performance (in marathoners 86.7%). %VO2 max at the VT level depends on the type of load and is higher the better the organism is adapted to a load. In young female canoeists and rowers examined on the bicycle ergometer, we found the VT level at 74.2% and 74.6% of %VO2 max, respectively. In the case of specific loading, we recorded 84.8% and 85.0% of %VO2 max, respectively, in the same athletes. In the case of nonspecific loading highly trained individuals may have low VT values close to the level characteristic for normal subjects. In relatively equally trained young and adult athletes we did not find significant differences in %VO2 max at the VT level (for long-distance runners, 85.2% and 85.3%, respectively, in female middle-distance runners, 82.8% and 82.7%, respectively, and in canoeists 81.3% and 78.9% of %VO2 max, respectively).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)