title: Critical velocity and anaerobic distance capacity in prepubertal children.
abstract: This study was designed to calculate the critical velocity (vcrit) and anaerobic distance capacity (ADC) of prepubescent children for running events. Thirty-four prepubertal children underwent a graded field test to exhaustion in order to determine peak oxygen uptake (peak VO2) and maximal aerobic velocity (MAV). Then, in random order, they performed five runs to exhaustion (tlim) at relative velocities corresponding to 90, 95, 100, 105, and 110% of MAV. The linear relationships between distance limit (dlim) and tlim were calculated in order to determine vcrit (slope of the relationship) and ADC (intercept). Very high individual coefficients of determination were found between dlim and tlim (0.98 < r2 < 0.99; p < 0.001). The vcrit was significantly correlated with peak VO2 (r = 0.73; p < 0.001). However, no relationship was found between ADC and the maximal accumulated oxygen deficit. In conclusion, our results indicated that, for children, the relationship between dlim and tlim could be calculated with tlim ranging from 2 to 10 min, and that vcrit is a good indicator of the aerobic fitness of children. Nevertheless, further studies will have to be conducted to validate the use of ADC as an indicator of children's anaerobic capacity.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Etudes de la Motricité Humaine, Faculté des Sciences du Sport et de l'Education Physique, Université de Lille 2, 9 rue de l'Université, F-59790 Ronchin, France.
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Berthoin
authors.forename: Georges
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Baquet
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dupont
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Blondel
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mucci
mesh_terms: D015308:Anaerobic Threshold; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D012420:Running; D013997:Time Factors