The incidence of rule changes on physiological characteristics of male and female canoe slalom paddlers: A 14-year longitudinal study

The sport of competitive canoe slalom has greatly evolved within the last fifteen years and this brought changes in the physiological demands placed on the paddler. A reduction in boat length (4.0 to 3.5 m), race duration (~30%) and a greater number of events to reach the finals in international competition are some of the significant changes introduced after the 2000 Olympics that might have altered the athlete`s training in order to prepare for competition. Methods: A total of 31 men and 22 women were studied, all were elite french canoe slalom paddlers (125 and 56 maximal tests completed, respectively). The human ethics committee of Pau`s hospital approved all procedures. All maximal tests were conducted on a calibrated ergometer adapted for seated arm cranking. Maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) was measured using an automated gas analysis system during an incremental test to volitional exhaustion. Ventilatory threshold (VT) and respiratory compensation point (RCP) were also determined. A 6s all-out force-velocity test was used to measure maximal power (Pmax) for the upper limbs (Vandewalle, 1987). Statistical analyses (ANOVA) were carried out to determine the interaction between the gender and the effect of the change in rules (since 2000) on the physiological characteristics of the paddlers (p<0.05). Results: Significant main effects of "before" vs. "after" rule changes were found for maximal and submaximal O2 consumption in men, which increased by 9.9% at VT (32.5±0.8 to 36.1±0.8 mL/min/kg), 11.1% at RCP (39.2±0.7 to 44.1±0.7 mL/min/kg) and 7.6% at VO2max (48.4±0.7 to 52.4±1.1 mL/min/kg). Changes in women were only found at VT (25.9±1.3 to 28.3±1.6 mL/min/kg, 8.4%). Maximum power in the force-velocity test remained stable between the two periods for both men and women (1152.1±20.9 and 563±21.9 W, respectively). Discussion: While force-velocity characteristics stayed constant during the last decade, the changes in boat length, competition rules and race duration since 2000 might have contributed to a modification of the physiological profile of paddlers, by generally increasing their level of fitness. It is well accepted that an increase in the volume of high-intensity training, even for short repeated bouts of a few seconds, can significantly improve fitness level (Gibala, 2008). In the present study, results might be indicative of an improvement in the general conditioning of athletes allowing them to support a greater training volume at a higher quality.
© Copyright 2012 17th Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science (ECSS), Bruges, 4. -7. July 2012. Julkaistu Tekijä Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Kaikki oikeudet pidätetään.

Aiheet: kanoottipujottelu kilpailusäännöt ja määräykset suhde urheilufysiologia hapenottokyky maksimi ventilaatiokynnys testi tutkimusmenetelmä
Aihealueet: kestävyys urheilu biologiset ja lääketieteelliset tieteet
Julkaisussa: 17th Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science (ECSS), Bruges, 4. -7. July 2012
Toimittajat: R. Meeusen, J. Duchateau, B. Roelands, M. Klass, B. De Geus, S. Baudry, E. Tsolakidis
Julkaistu: Brügge Vrije Universiteit Brussel 2012
Sivuja: 446
Julkaisutyypit: kongressin muistiinpanot
Kieli: englanti (kieli)
Taso: kehittynyt