Skip to main content
Kent Academic Repository

The limit to exercise tolerance in humans: mind over muscle?

Marcora, Samuele Maria, Staiano, Walter (2010) The limit to exercise tolerance in humans: mind over muscle? European Journal of Applied Physiology, 109 (4). pp. 763-770. ISSN 1439-6319. (doi:10.1007/s00421-010-1418-6) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:26254)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00421-010-1418-6

Abstract

In exercise physiology, it has been traditionally assumed that high-intensity aerobic exercise stops at the point commonly called exhaustion because fatigued subjects are no longer able to generate the power output required by the task despite their maximal voluntary effort. We tested the validity of this assumption by measuring maximal voluntary cycling power before (mean +/- SD, 1,075 +/- 214 W) and immediately after (731 +/- 206 W) (P < 0.001) exhaustive cycling exercise at 242 +/- 24 W (80% of peak aerobic power measured during a preliminary incremental exercise test) in ten fit male human subjects. Perceived exertion during exhaustive cycling exercise was strongly correlated (r = -0.82, P = 0.003) with time to exhaustion (10.5 +/- 2.1 min). These results challenge the long-standing assumption that muscle fatigue causes exhaustion during high-intensity aerobic exercise, and suggest that exercise tolerance in highly motivated subjects is ultimately limited by perception of effort.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1007/s00421-010-1418-6
Subjects: R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC1200 Sports medicine
B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Q Science > QP Physiology (Living systems)
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Natural Sciences > Sport and Exercise Sciences
Depositing User: Samuele Marcora
Date Deposited: 21 Jan 2011 10:27 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:04 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/26254 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Marcora, Samuele Maria.

Creator's ORCID:
CReDIT Contributor Roles:
  • Depositors only (login required):

Total unique views for this document in KAR since July 2020. For more details click on the image.