REF-273 · Bailey, Vanhatalo, Black, DiMenna & Jones, 2016 · International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, · Paper · PubMed
Effects of Priming and Pacing Strategy on Oxygen-Uptake Kinetics and Cycling Performance
Participants
n=9 men (the abstract gives no training status, VO2max or cycling background)
Protocol
Target-work cycling performance trials in four conditions: self-paced vs all-out pacing strategy, each with or without prior severe-intensity (70%Δ) "priming" exercise
Breath-by-breath pulmonary VO2 and power output recorded throughout
Performance = time to complete the target work (control trial ~98 s)
Key Results
| Condition | VO2 mean response time | Time to complete target work |
|---|---|---|
| Self-paced, unprimed (control) | 22 ± 5 s | 98 ± 11 s |
| All-out, unprimed | 17 ± 4 s | 97 ± 5 s (NS vs control) |
| Self-paced, primed | 17 ± 3 s | 93 ± 8 s (P < 0.05) |
| All-out, primed | 15 ± 4 s | 92 ± 8 s (P < 0.05) |
VO2 kinetics were faster with all-out pacing, with priming, and fastest with both combined (P < 0.05)
Total O2 consumed and end-exercise VO2 were higher than control only in the primed trials
Performance improved only in the primed trials (~5-6 s off ~98 s); the all-out start alone did not improve performance, and adding it to priming added nothing beyond priming
Authors' conclusion: priming improves oxidative metabolism and short-duration high-intensity cycling performance independent of the pacing strategy; combining the two additively speeds VO2 kinetics but not performance
Mechanism
Inference, not tested in this study: priming (a severe-intensity bout followed by recovery) raises muscle perfusion and oxidative-enzyme activation so VO2 rises faster at the next onset; an all-out start drives the same adjustment from the demand side.
Here the two effects added up in VO2 kinetics, but performance gained no more from the combination than from priming alone — the later Brock 2018 REF-279 trial, with a 12-s all-out start in a simulated 4-km TT, did find an additional performance benefit.
Practical Application
Crossover, 9 men, ~98-s target-work cycling trials: a severe-intensity priming bout before the effort cut completion time to 93 s (self-paced) and 92 s (all-out start) vs 98 s unprimed, while an all-out start without priming (97 s) did not help; priming and the all-out start each sped VO2 kinetics (22 → 17 s), and together 15 s, but performance gained only from priming. For a short, hard effort, the warm-up priming bout is what buys time; the start strategy on its own does not.
Priming is the intervention with the performance effect: a severe-intensity effort in the warm-up, then recovery, before a short high-intensity event
An aggressive start speeds VO2 kinetics further but did not improve performance beyond priming in this study; Brock 2018 REF-279 found a short (12-s) all-out start plus priming did — a brief hard opening is defensible after priming, a prolonged surge is untested
Efforts of about 90-100 s only; multi-hour endurance events are outside this evidence
Limitations
n=9 men of unstated training status; ~98-s target-work trials — transfer to trained cyclists and to events longer than a few minutes is untested
Results rewritten from the abstract on 2026-09-08 (identity fix); the full text was not re-read
How this entry was checked and changed
Content correction 2026-09-27
"n=9 men (trained cyclists)" -> 9 men; the abstract states no training status. Tier 2-3 -> Tier 1-2.
Added the performance numbers: control 98 ± 11 s, all-out unprimed 97 ± 5 s (NS), self-paced primed 93 ± 8 s, all-out primed 92 ± 8 s (P < 0.05).
Mechanism labelled as inference.