title: Comparison of some responses to exercise on the track and the treadmill in French trotters: determination of the optimal treadmill incline.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal treadmill slope for trotters to produce the same heart rate and blood lactate responses as on the track during a standardized exercise test. Nine 2-year-old French trotters performed exercise tests on a training track and on a treadmill set at an incline of 0, 2 or 4%. For all horses, track testing was performed on day 1 and then on the treadmill according to a Latin-square design. The track test utilized three steps each of 3 min at speeds of 470, 530, 590 m/min and the same speeds were used on the treadmill. Derived physiological variables such as the speed at a HR of 200 bpm (V(200)) and the speed inducing blood lactate concentrations of 4 mmol/L (V(4)) were calculated. There were significant differences for V(200)and V(4)(P<0.05) between the track and the treadmill data when the treadmill was set at inclines of 0 and 4%, but no significant differences with the treadmill set at a 2% incline. The optimal treadmill incline to reproduce similar responses to those on the track was determined by regression analysis, and was found to be 2.4% for the two most often utilized derived physiological variables, V(4)and V(200).
authors.affiliation: Pégase-Mayenne, Département de Médecine du Sport, C.H. de Laval, Laval cédex, 53015, France. pegase.mayenne@wanadoo.fr
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Couroucé
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Corde
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Valette
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cassiat
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Hodgson
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Rose
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005080:Exercise Test / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006736:Horses / Q000502:physiology*; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D005082:Physical Exertion / Q000502:physiology*; D012044:Regression Analysis
chemical_list: D019344:Lactic Acid