VO2 attained during treadmill running: the influence of a specialist (400-m or 800-m) event.

Previously it has been observed that, in well-trained 800-m athletes, VO2max is not attained during middle-distance running events on a treadmill, even when a race-type pacing strategy is adopted. Therefore, the authors investigated whether specialization in a particular running distance (400-m or 800-m) influences the VO2 attained during running on a treadmill.Six 400-m and six 800-m running specialists participated in the study.A 400-m trial and a progressive test to determine VO2max were completed in a counterbalanced order. Oxygen uptakes attained during the 400-m trial were compared to examine the influence of specialist event.A VO2 plateau was observed in all participants for the progressive test, demonstrating the attainment of VO2max. The VO2max values were 56.2 +/- 4.7 and 69.3 +/- 4.5 mL x kg-1 x min-1 for the 400-m- and 800-m-event specialists, respectively (P = .0003). Durations for the 400-m trial were 55.1 +/- 4.2 s and 55.8 +/- 2.3 s for the 400-m- and 800-m-event specialists, respectively. The VO2 responses achieved were 93.1% +/- 2.0% and 85.7% +/- 3.0% VO2max for the 400-m- and 800-m-event specialists, respectively (P = .001).These results demonstrate that specialist running events do appear to influence the percentage of VO2max achieved in the 400-m trial, with the 800-m specialists attaining a lower percentage of VO2max than the 400-m specialists. The 400-m specialists appear to compensate for a lower VO2max by attaining a higher percentage VO2max during a 400-m trial.