2. What is blood doping?
3. How does it work?
4. Respiratory physiology
5. The physiology of endurance sports
6. Ventilation during endurance sports
7. Cardiac output during endurance sports
8. Aerobic metabolism during endurance sports
9. Conclusion - blood doping kills
In order to understand the mechanism of EPO as an ergogenic aid it is necessary to understand the limiting factors for maximum oxygen uptake during endurance performance. Maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) was first defined by Hill et al (1922) who stated:
Bassett and Howley (2000) described four limiting factors of VO2Max. They were:
The first three can be described as central limitations and the
fourth peripheral. It is the third of these which is affected by
EPO and haemoglobin levels. The use of recombinant EPO has been
shown to increase VO2max (Ekblom and Berglund 1991).