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Metabolic specificity in outrigger canoe paddlers

University of British Columbia

Leg drive is encouraged in paddling to increase power per stroke. When involving additional muscle mass during exercise, it can be expected that the metabolic demand would also increase. Treadmill (TM) and paddling ergometer (PE) with leg drive, (PEL) and with no leg drive (PENL) incremental testing to fatigue was recorded in 22 healthy male subjects. Eleven experienced outrigger canoeists (P) (age=35.64±5.66 yrs, ht=179.16±3.81 cm, wt=84.39±9.23 kg) and eleven matched controls (C) (age=36.45±5.66 yrs, ht=178.85±4.07 cm, wt=83.95±8.32 kg) participated. Metabolic variables were monitored using the COSMED K4b² portable metabolic system. Oxygen consumption was significantly increased with the addition of leg drive during maximal exercise on the paddling ergometer (PEL=3.88±0.53, PENL=3.23±0.47 L/min). Paddlers attained a higher percentage (14.58% higher than controls) of treadmill VO2max when using leg drive. Furthermore, trained individuals (the paddling group) were able to reach higher percentages of treadmill VO2max during paddling tests both with legs (P=85.05±7.82 vs. C=67.52±4.58) and without legs (P=70.47±5.47 vs. C=61.79±4.16) when compared to the untrained individuals. There was no significant difference between oxyhaemoglobin saturation levels of paddlers and controls across the three testing conditions. Ventilatory thresholds were significantly higher on the TM than on the PE, but were not significantly different between groups. At exercise intensities of 75% and 100% VO2max during PEL significantly higher breathing frequency (45.57±6.86 vs. 57.71±7.99 br/min respectively), tidal volume (2.20±0.35 vs. 2.57±0.35 L respectively), and minute ventilation (99.44+20.17 vs. 146.84±18.54 L/min respectively) values were recorded in paddlers. In addition, at the same intensities of 75% and 100% VO2max, stroke rate was significantly correlated with breathing frequency (r=0.833, r=0.693 respectively), indicating entrainment in the paddling group. Therefore leg drive does appear to affect the energy cost of paddling. These results suggest that the metabolic demand of exercise is sensitive to the specificity of testing conditions.

Thesis/Dissertation

application/pdf

2009-08-06

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/11844

Human Kinetics

University of British Columbia

UBCV

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