ANAEROBIC THRESHOLD AND PHYSICAL WORK CAPACITY INDICES IN YOUNG AND YOUNG-ADULT COMPETITIVE CYCLISTS: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF ASSESSMENT METHODS AND THEIR AGREEMENT BASED ON GRADED EXERCISE TESTING
R.T. Ablyalimov, T.A. Taraleva, D.E. Makhmudov · British Medical Journal · 2026
Purpose: to compare power output and heart-rate values at the anaerobic threshold obtained by different calculation
Methods: from a graded lactate test in competitive cyclists, to quantify their mutual agreement, and to relate these
Results: to an independent submaximal PWC170 test.
Methods: de-identified functional-testing records of 43 cyclists (29 men, 14 women; 17-29 years) were analyzed, comprising a graded cycle-ergometer test to exhaustion with capillary lactate sampling (threshold estimated by the classical lactate threshold, log-log, Dmax, Modified Dmax, and fixed blood lactate concentration [FBLA]
Methods: de-identified functional-testing records of 43 cyclists (29 men, 14 women; 17-29 years) were analyzed, comprising a graded cycle-ergometer test to exhaustion with capillary lactate sampling (threshold estimated by the classical lactate threshold, log-log, Dmax, Modified Dmax, and fixed blood lactate concentration [FBLA] methods) and a submaximal PWC170 test. Agreement was assessed with Pearson/Spearman correlation, the intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC(2,1)], and Bland–Altman analysis with Holm–Bonferroni-corrected pairwise comparisons.
Methods: de-identified functional-testing records of 43 cyclists (29 men, 14 women; 17-29 years) were analyzed, comprising a graded cycle-ergometer test to exhaustion with capillary lactate sampling (threshold estimated by the classical lactate threshold, log-log, Dmax, Modified Dmax, and fixed blood lactate concentration [FBLA] methods) and a submaximal PWC170 test. Agreement was assessed with Pearson/Spearman correlation, the intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC(2,1)], and Bland–Altman analysis with Holm–Bonferroni-corrected pairwise comparisons. Results: maximal power was 299.4±45.8 W (3.58±0.57 W/kg). Threshold-
Method: power outputs ranged from 182.0 to 239.8 W and were strongly correlated (r=0.59-0.96; ICC(2,1)=0.60-0.70), but Bland–Altman analysis showed wide limits of agreement (up to ±75 W) and significant proportional bias for two of six
method pairs, indicating that group-level agreement does not extend to individual interchangeability. Relative power on the graded test correlated significantly with relative PWC170 (r=0.41, p=0.006), a finding that was robust to outlier exclusion. After correction for multiple comparisons, a significant sex difference remained only for peak heart rate (196.3±8.9 vs. 183.4±8.6 bpm; p=0.0005); differences in relative power and PWC170 did not reach
Significance: .
Conclusion: anaerobic-threshold calculation
methods are highly correlated but not interchangeable at the individual level; a single, consistent
methods are highly correlated but not interchangeable at the individual level; a single, consistent method should be used when monitoring an athlete's progress over time, and correlation coefficients alone should not be used to establish agreement between
methods are highly correlated but not interchangeable at the individual level; a single, consistent method should be used when monitoring an athlete's progress over time, and correlation coefficients alone should not be used to establish agreement between methods.