The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of active recovery (AR) on plasma lactate concentration [La] and anaerobic power output as measured during repeated bouts of intense exercise (6 s) against increasing braking forces. Ten male subjects performed two randomly assigned exercise trials: one with a 5-min passive recovery (PR) after each exercise bout and one with a 5-min active recovery (AR) at a workload corresponding to 32% of maximal aerobic power. Blood samples were taken at rest, at the end of each exercise bout (S1) and at the 5th minute between bout-recovery (S2) for plasma lactate assay. During the tests, [La]S1 was not significantly different after AR and PR, but [La]S2 was significantly lower after AR for power outputs obtained at braking forces 6 kg (5.66 +/- 0.38 vs 7.56 +/- 0.51 mmol.l-1) and peak anaerobic power (PAnP) (6.73 +/- 0.61 vs 8.54 +/- 0.89 mmol.l-1). Power outputs obtained at 2 and 4 kg did not differ after AR and PR. However, when compared with PR, AR induced a significant increase in both power outputs at 6 kg (842 +/- 35 vs 798 +/- 33 W) and PAnP (945 +/- 56 vs 883 +/- 58 W). These results showed that AR between bouts of intensive exercise decreased blood lactate concentration at high braking forces. This decrease was accompanied by higher anaerobic power outputs at these forces.