Table 2.
Physiological responses during the simulated 20 km time trial (20TT) Pre- and Post-Taper. Values are Mean (SD). T30 (30% reduction in weekly training volume; n = 5), T50 (50% reduction in weekly training volume; n = 5), T80 (80% reduction in weekly training volume; n = 5). * indicates significantly different from Pre-test, p ≤ 0.05; #indicates p = 0.057 from Pre-test.
| Variable | Pre-Taper | Post-Taper | ||||
| T30 | T50 | T80 | T30 | T50 | T80 | |
| Time (min) | 27:03(1:29) | 26:34(0:56) | 26:10(2:58) | 27:40(2:34) | 25:25(1:23)# | 25:31(2:07) |
| VO2 (L·min-1) | 3.28 (0.54) | 4.04 (0.24) | 4.09 (0.59) | 3.17 (0.56) | 4.22 (0.11) | 4.15 (0.39) |
| %VO2max | 74.6% | 86.9% | 84.7% | 72.1% | 90.7% | 85.3% |
| VCO2(L·min-1) | 3.39 (0.95) | 3.82 (0.26) | 3.84 (0.49) | 3.31 (0.93) | 4.07 (0.21) | 4.07 (0.31) |
| VE (L·min-1) | 81.0 (17.2) | 102.1 (12.2) | 103.1(13.2) | 81.7 (16.4) | 95.0 (5.9) | 106.1 (10.2) |
| VE/VO2 | 24.7 (1.9) | 25.3 (2.2) | 25.2 (1.1) | 25.8 (1.0) | 22.5 (1.7) * | 26.1 (1.2) |
| RER | 1.03 (0.07) | 0.95 (0.02) | 0.94 (0.03) | 1.04 (0.03) | 0.97 (0.04) | 0.98 (0.03) |
| HR (b·min-1) | 169 (5) | 175 (9) | 173 (13) | 173 (4) | 174 (13) | 179 (5) |
| O2 pulse (mL·b-1) | 19.3 (2.8) | 23.2 (2.4) | 23.6 (1.8) | 18.3 (3.3) | 24.3 (2.2) | 21.9 (1.4) |
| Hb/Mb-O2 (mV) | -455 (270) | -731 (155) | -770 (183) | -403 (170) | -1167 (224) * | -847 (106) |
| RPE | 13.9 (2.3) | 16.2 (1.6) | 16.3 (1.3) | 14.9 (2.0) | 16.8 (1.5) | 16.3 (1.2) |
| Thigh Skinfold (mm) | 8.9 (1.8) | 9.2 (1.7) | 9.0 (1.9) | 9.0 (1.9) | 9.1 (1.6) | 9.2 (1.8) |