Durability as an Index of Endurance Exercise Performance: Methodological Considerations
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Wiley
Abstract
Endurance athletes routinely complete physiological assessments to predict performance, inform training programmes and monitor subsequent training adaptations. This profiling is typically performed with the athlete in a 'fresh' (i.e., rested) condition, but physiological profiling variables deteriorate during prolonged exercise. Durability has been defined as the resilience to the deterioration of physiological variables and performance during or following prolonged exercise. Herein, we review the current approaches to measure durability. The construction of the fatiguing protocol affects durability profiles, with greater relative intensity and duration resulting in more marked deterioration of baseline measures. The design of durability assessments should control for factors that could impact durability measurements, such as nutrition and environmental characteristics, to ensure that outcomes are repeatable and can be compared between athletes or over time in the same athlete. The selection of these parameters should be based on the proposed research question or applied context and take account of the training status of the athlete. Accordingly, this review highlights important considerations to ensure that protocols for profiling durability in research and applied practice are appropriate.Description
Keywords
endurance performance, exercise capacity, fatigue resistance, endurance performance, exercise capacity, fatigue resistance, 42 Health Sciences, 4207 Sports Science and Exercise, Physical Activity, Clinical Research, 2.1 Biological and endogenous factors, Generic health relevance, 0606 Physiology, 1106 Human Movement and Sports Sciences, 1116 Medical Physiology, Physiology, 3109 Zoology, 3208 Medical physiology, 4207 Sports science and exercise
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Experimental Physiology, ISSN: 0958-0670 (Print); 1469-445X (Online), Wiley, 110(11), 1612-1624. doi: 10.1113/EP092120
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© 2025 The Author(s). Experimental Physiology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Physiological Society. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.