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The limit to exercise tolerance in humans: mind over muscle?

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An Erratum to this article was published on 15 September 2010

Abstract

In exercise physiology, it has been traditionally assumed that high-intensity aerobic exercise stops at the point commonly called exhaustion because fatigued subjects are no longer able to generate the power output required by the task despite their maximal voluntary effort. We tested the validity of this assumption by measuring maximal voluntary cycling power before (mean ± SD, 1,075 ± 214 W) and immediately after (731 ± 206 W) (P < 0.001) exhaustive cycling exercise at 242 ± 24 W (80% of peak aerobic power measured during a preliminary incremental exercise test) in ten fit male human subjects. Perceived exertion during exhaustive cycling exercise was strongly correlated (r = −0.82, P = 0.003) with time to exhaustion (10.5 ± 2.1 min). These results challenge the long-standing assumption that muscle fatigue causes exhaustion during high-intensity aerobic exercise, and suggest that exercise tolerance in highly motivated subjects is ultimately limited by perception of effort.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to all participants for their effort during testing, to Mr. Kevin Williams for technical assistance, and to Mr. Gethin Wyn Francis for assistance with subject recruitment and testing. Funding for this study was provided by the School of Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences, Bangor University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences, Bangor University, Normal Site, Holyhead Road, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2PZ, Wales, UK

    Samuele Maria Marcora & Walter Staiano

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  1. Samuele Maria Marcora
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  2. Walter Staiano
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Correspondence to Samuele Maria Marcora.

Additional information

Communicated by Susan Ward.

An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00421-010-1644-y

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Marcora, S.M., Staiano, W. The limit to exercise tolerance in humans: mind over muscle?. Eur J Appl Physiol 109, 763–770 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-010-1418-6

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