Comparison of running on treadmill and track in terms of perceived exertion, heart rate and blood lactate levels

m Comparison of Running on Treadmill and Track in terms of Perceived Exertion, Heart Rate and Blood Lactate Levels SUMMARY The purpose of this study was to investigate differences of heart rates, blood lactate and perceived exertion responses between treadmill and track in terms of running. Eight male intermediate level soccer players from the School of Physical Education and Sports participated as voluntary subjects to this study. Mean age of the subjects were 20±2 years. Six stages of 5 min running protocol were conducted to subjects for both treadmill and track. Running speeds were increased 1.2km/s for every stage of the protocols from 9.0km/s to 15.0km/s. during the last 40 seconds of each stage, heart rate and perceived exertion were determined. Blood lactate samples were drawn from fingertips subsequently after each stage, within 40 seconds. Same protocol was applied at the day after. The result of the study showed that blood lactate levels were higher during treadmill running than the track running for every stage of study. However, statistically significant differences were observed only at the 10.2km/s, 13.8km/s and 15.0km/s. On the other hand, heart rates were higher for all stages in track runs. But, differences were statistically significant only at the velocity of 9.0km/s and 12.6km/s. Moreover, rate of perceived exertion data at 9.0km/s and 10.2km/s of treadmill running were statistically higher from that of track running (p<0, 05). Aerobic and anaerobic lactate threshold speeds were 8.0km/s and ll.lkm/s for treadmill and 9.0km/s and 12.2km/s for track respectively. These differences were statistically significant (p<0,01).