Anaerobic threshold, skeletal muscle enzymes and fiber composition in young female cross‐country skiers

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Abstract
Anaerobic threshold (AT) and maximum O2 uptake (.ovrhdot.VO2 max) were determined in 15 young female cross-country skiers, aged 15-20 yr, during incremental bicycle ergometer exercise. Succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), malate dehydrogenase (MDH), citrate synthase (CS) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were analyzed biochemically and percentage of slow twitch fibers (%ST fibers, myosin ATPase staining) were examined histochemically in muscle samples obtained from musculus vastus lateralis. .ovrhdot.VO2 max correlated significantly with anaerobic threshold in ml .times. kg-1 .times. min-1 (mlAT), but when AT was expressed in percent of .ovrhdot.VO2 max (%AT) the correlation was insignificant. Significant correlations were found between %AT and SDH (r = 0.63) and between mlAT and CS (r = 0.58). .ovrhdot.VO2 max showed no significant correlations with the enzymes studied or %ST fibers. Anaerobic threshold may be related to oxidative capacity of muscle.