Oxygen Uptake in Repeated Cycling Sprints Against Different Loads Is Comparable Between Men and Preadolescent Boys

Children recover faster than adults in repeated sprints, but it is unclear if their aerobic responses differ.PurposeThis study tested the hypothesis that aerobic response (VO2) during repeated sprints is greater in preadolescent boys than in men. Further, this study compared normalization with conventional ratio-scaling and scaling with the use of body mass (BM) as a covariate.MethodsNine boys (age: 11.8 ± 0.6 years, swimmers) and 11 men (age: 21.7 ± 0.6 years, recreational athletes) performed 10 maximal 6-s cycling sprints separated by 24-s of passive recovery, against two loads (optimum and 50% of optimum). Oxygen uptake (VO2) was measured continuously.ResultsMen’s mean power output (MPO) was greater than boys in each sprint, both in absolute (unscaled) values ( p