Energetics of shuttle runs: the effects of distance and change of direction

Shuttle runs can be used to study the physiological responses in sports (such as basketball) characterized by sprints (accelerations/ decelerations) and changes of direction.

To determine the energy cost (C) of shuttle runs with different turning angles and over different distances (with different acceleration/deceleration patterns).

Nine basketball players were asked to complete 6 intermittent tests over different distances (5, 10, 25 m) and with different changes of direction (180° at 5 and 25 m; 0°, 45°, 90°, and 180° at 10 m) at maximal speed (v ≈ 4.5 m/s), each composed by 10 shuttle runs of 10-s duration and 30-s recovery; during these runs oxygen uptake (VO(2)), blood lactate (Lab), and C were determined.

For a given shuttle distance (10 m) no major differences where observed in VO(2) (~33 mL · min⁻¹ · kg⁻¹), Lab (~3.75 mM), and C (~21.2 J · m⁻¹ · kg⁻¹) when the shuttle runs were performed with different turning angles. For a given turning angle (180°), VO(2) and Lab were found to increase with the distance covered (VO(2) from 26 to 35 mL · min⁻¹ · kg⁻¹; Lab from 0.7 to 7.6 mM) while C was found to decrease with it (from 29.9 to 10.6 J · m⁻¹ · kg⁻¹); the relationship between C and d (m) is well described by C = 92.99 × d0.656, R2 = .971.

The metabolic demands of shuttle tests run at maximal speeds can be estimated based on the running distance, while the turning angle plays a minor role in determining C.