Deficit de Oxigênio Acumulado e Produção de Energia Anaeróbia (Accumulated Oxygen Deficit and Anaerobic Energy Release)

The aim of the present paper is to present an historical
perspective of the use of the Accumulated Oxygen Deficit as
an indicator of the anaerobic energy release and to analyse the
assumptions in which the Accumulated Oxygen Deficit method
is based. This method has been used since the end of the 1980
decade to assess the anaerobic ability of sportsmen and allows
the Accumulated Oxygen Deficit estimation during
supramaximal exercises. The method requires a previous estimation of the total energy cost of the exercise. The later is
calculated by extrapolation of the energy cost observed during
submaximal exercise. The theory that supports the AOD
concept may be simple, but the assumptions in which is based
on are not easy to prove. The assumptions of the method are: i)
estimation of the submaximal energy cost from the oxygen
uptake-exercise intensity relationship; ii) estimation of the
supramaximal energy cost by linear extrapolation of the
submaximal energy cost; iii) stability of the supramaximal
energy cost during exercise. Despite the fact that some criticisms
have been addressed to the method, until the present time no
one has presented an alternative method that would be
independent from the above mentioned assumptions and
presented an acceptable validity.