Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 20, 2025

A Rapidly Incremented Tethered-Swimming Maximal Protocol for Cardiorespiratory Assessment of Swimmers
Published on: January 28, 2020
Mechanical and metabolic power in accelerated running-Part II: team sports
Cristian Osgnach1, Pietro E di Prampero2,3, Paola Zamparo4
1Department of Sport Science, Exelio srl, Udine, Italy. cristian.osgnach@gmail.com.
Purpose:
This manuscript is devoted to discuss the interplay between velocity and acceleration in setting metabolic and mechanical power in team sports.
Methods:
To this aim, an essential step is to assess the individual Acceleration-Speed Profile (ASP) by appropriately analysing training sessions or matches. This allows one to estimate maximal mechanical and metabolic power, including that for running at constant speed, and hence to determine individual thresholds thereof.
Results:
Several approaches are described and the results, as obtained from 38 official matches of one team (Italian Serie B, season 2020-2021), are reported and discussed. The number of events in which the external mechanical power exceeded 80% of that estimated from the subject's ASP ([Formula: see text]) was 1.61 times larger than the number of accelerations above 2.5 m s-2 ([Formula: see text]). The difference was largest for midfielders and smallest for attackers (2.30 and 1.36 times, respectively) due to (i) a higher starting velocity for midfielders and (ii) a higher external peak power for attackers in performing [Formula: see text]. From the energetic perspective, the duration and the corresponding metabolic power of high-demanding phases ([Formula: see text]) were essentially constant (6 s and 22 W kg-1, respectively) from the beginning to the end of the match, even if their number decreased from 28 in the first to 21 in the last 15-min period, as a consequence of the increased recovery time between [Formula: see text] from 26 s in the first to 37 s in the last 15-min period.
Conclusion:
These data underline the flaws of acceleration counting above fixed thresholds.
Related Concept Videos
Exercise and Cardiac Output
Sustained exercise increases the muscles' oxygen demand, which can be...
Power Expended by a Constant Force
Exercise and Muscle Performance
Endurance exercises
Endurance exercises involve running, swimming, or cycling, which require repetitive movements with low force output. When a person engages in endurance exercise, a few noticeable changes occur in their skeletal muscles. For instance, the number of capillaries...
Power
Exercise and Cardiovascular Response
Light to moderate physical activity initiates a series of interconnected responses in the body. The heart rate modestly increases in anticipation of the workout, followed by widespread vasodilation as oxygen consumption by skeletal muscles increases. This results in decreased peripheral resistance, increased capillary blood flow, and accelerated...
Mechanical Efficiency of Real Machines
However, in reality, no machine can be truly ideal, and all of them experience some...

