Take it to the Limit

The Division of Exercise Science, Sport and Recreation is conducting tests to see if the athletes are training to the best of their ability.

Gina Sobrero Evans, director of the exercise physiology lab, is overseeing the testing. The lab is working with two Marshall University sports teams.

"We are working with the men's and women's soccer teams to see if they are improving pre-season and post-season," Sobrero Evans said.

One test is called the V02 max test. VO2 max is the maximum volume of Oxygen that the body can consume during intense, full-body exercise, according to The Institute for Public Health, Sport and Nutrition at University of Agder in Norway. To measure it, athletes step on a treadmill and are hooked to an electrocardiogram machine to monitor heart activity. During this test. 50 percent of muscle mass must be at work.

The test starts out at slow speed. Then the speed increases in intervals anywhere from 30 seconds to two minutes.

"The test trains the muscle to store more energy in the muscle and resist fatigue longer," Sobrero Evans said.

The test also determines if the athletes are doing the right training. Sobrero Evans said most athletes train well, but some over do it.

"A few athletes over train, if so their VO2 max goes up," she said.

The V02 max is used to inform the coaches how their training regiments is working.

Three things influence VO2 max, age, gender and altitude, according to the about.com. Genetics also play a role in the measurement.

Gender affects how long the athlete stays on the treadmill. Men train between 12 to 15 minutes and women train between 9 to 12 minutes.

The other test is called Wingate testing. The lab has started training baseball pitchers and the soccer teams.

The Wingate test is the athlete's maximum pedaling power for 30 seconds. The test measures anaerobic power of the knee muscles.

Anaerobic means without oxygen, according to the University of Iowa Health Care Anaerobic exercise increases muscle strength.

Sobrero Evans said she hopes to start the VO2 max training with the basketball team and cross country team in the fall.

Kristen Hainkel can be contacted at hain  kel@marshall.edu.