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Review
. 2017 May 1;595(9):2897-2913.
doi: 10.1113/JP273218. Epub 2016 Nov 16.

Limitations in intense exercise performance of athletes - effect of speed endurance training on ion handling and fatigue development

Morten Hostrup  1   2 , Jens Bangsbo  1
Affiliations
Review

Limitations in intense exercise performance of athletes - effect of speed endurance training on ion handling and fatigue development

Morten Hostrup et al. J Physiol. .

Abstract

Mechanisms underlying fatigue development and limitations for performance during intense exercise have been intensively studied during the past couple of decades. Fatigue development may involve several interacting factors and depends on type of exercise undertaken and training level of the individual. Intense exercise (½-6 min) causes major ionic perturbations (Ca2+ , Cl- , H+ , K+ , lactate- and Na+ ) that may reduce sarcolemmal excitability, Ca2+ release and force production of skeletal muscle. Maintenance of ion homeostasis is thus essential to sustain force production and power output during intense exercise. Regular speed endurance training (SET), i.e. exercise performed at intensities above that corresponding to maximum oxygen consumption (V̇O2, max ), enhances intense exercise performance. However, most of the studies that have provided mechanistic insight into the beneficial effects of SET have been conducted in untrained and recreationally active individuals, making extrapolation towards athletes' performance difficult. Nevertheless, recent studies indicate that only a few weeks of SET enhances intense exercise performance in highly trained individuals. In these studies, the enhanced performance was not associated with changes in V̇O2, max and muscle oxidative capacity, but rather with adaptations in muscle ion handling, including lowered interstitial concentrations of K+ during and in recovery from intense exercise, improved lactate- -H+ transport and H+ regulation, and enhanced Ca2+ release function. The purpose of this Topical Review is to provide an overview of the effect of SET and to discuss potential mechanisms underlying enhancements in performance induced by SET in already well-trained individuals with special emphasis on ion handling in skeletal muscle.

Keywords: KATP; KIR; MCT; NHE; NKCC; endurance; fatigue resilience; high intensity.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Overview of metabolic and ion handling systems in skeletal muscle of potential importance for performance during intense exercise, and their adaptations to a period of speed endurance training (SET)
Blue (continuous) arrows, direction of flux. Green (dashed) arrows, potentiation of a given protein/enzyme. Red (dashed) arrows, inhibition of a given protein/enzyme. Green (continuous) arrows, augmented by a period with SET. Red (continuous) arrows, lowered by a period with SET. Question marks (?), the effect of a period with SET is unknown. ClC‐1, Cl− channel isoform 1; DHPR, dihydropyridine receptor; KIR2.1, K+ inward rectifier channel 2.1; KIR6.2, K+ inward rectifier channel 6.2; LDH, lactate dehydrogenase; MCT, monocarboxylate transporter; NHE1, Na+–H+ exchanger isoform 1; NKCC1, Na+–K+–2Cl− exchanger isoform 1; PFK, phosphofructokinase; RyR1, ryanodine receptor 1, SERCA, sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase; SR, sarcoplasmic reticulum; TCA, tricarboxylic acid cycle.
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