Sports Medicine
Performance diagnostics
The topic of performance diagnostics is not only interesting for professional athletes but also particularly for ambitious recreational runners.Professional athletes are often able to assess their physical sensations more accurately than a layperson. Nevertheless, even these top athletes don't rely solely on their feelings and rely on medical support through performance diagnostics and training management during training and competition preparation.
Performance diagnostics and training control are terms that are often used interchangeably and are sometimes misunderstood. However, they must be clearly distinguished:
- Performance diagnostics test the individual athlete's performance, i.e., their maximum performance capacity.
- Training control examines which training load and running pace are effective for training. This allows training to be optimized and, above all, health risks to be avoided.
Recreational athletes, in particular, benefit from the advantages of precise training control. By specifying individual exercise limits, ideally using a heart rate monitor, you can train precisely within the specified ranges. This makes training much more effective, allowing you to reach your personal goals faster.
Optimal performance diagnostics are particularly important for competitive athletes, such as marathon runners. Laboratory tests can determine performance with relative accuracy, thus providing a predictive value for a potential marathon time.
Ideally, a treadmill test should be carried out on the marathon runner, as this allows a direct conclusion to be drawn about the expected half marathon or marathon time.
How does such a test work?
For marathon runners, the test is conducted on the treadmill at an initial running speed of 100 mph. The treadmill speed is then gradually increased until the runner reaches maximum exertion.
- After each exercise stage, heart rate and lactic acid concentration in the blood are measured. Performance can then be determined by determining various measurement points.
- The anaerobic threshold is a measurement point of particular interest. This level of exertion corresponds to the maximum performance that can be maintained without overacidification of the muscles due to the accumulation of lactic acid.
- The performance level at this point is limited by the body's energy reserves. Performance above this threshold is limited by the resulting overacidification of the muscles and the resulting interruption of the load.
- For well-trained runners, a load just below the anaerobic threshold corresponds to marathon race pace.
Much has been written in recent years about determining the anaerobic threshold in the context of performance diagnostics, and even experts are not entirely in agreement. What is certain, however, is that setting the threshold at a latency concentration of, for example, 4 mmol/l in no way meets the individual needs of the athlete.
- The threshold should be determined by a performance diagnostic based on the rate of increase in blood lactate. This point varies from individual to individual and is appropriate for each athlete.
- It makes sense to have performance diagnostics performed by a physician. In addition to the purely sports physiological background, a medical background is also available.
This is especially important when exercising at the limit. Circulatory reactions are not uncommon in athletes. These should be recognized quickly and treated medically correctly. If performance diagnostics reveal unusual results, the physician can initiate further steps, such as blood tests or additional diagnostics.