engleski

INFLUENCE OF RACE WALKING TREADMILL TEST PROTOCOL ON VENTILATORY THRESHOLDS

INTRODUCTION: In race walking (RW) there are no standard graded treadmill tests for determination of aerobic capacity parameters as it is the case in running. Test protocols with linearly progressive load which are used for running are not suitable for walking, since in the high intensity zone there is an exponential growth of energy consumption which significantly shortens duration of the test ; moreover, lower VO2peak values are reported for walking in comparison to running. The aim of the study was to establish the influence of RW treadmill test protocol on the two ventilatory thresholds (aerobic, AeT ; anaerobic, AnT) and related parameters (oxygen uptake, VO2 ; heart rate, HR ; breathing frequency, BF ; tidal volume, Vt ; ventilation, VE). METHODS: 34 amateur race walkers (19 men and 15 women) preformed two different graded race walking tests to exhaustion (at 1% treadmill grade), in random order: 1. with speed increments of 0, 5 km/h every 30 sec (standard protocol used for running, T05) and 2. with speed increments of 0, 3 km/h every 30 sec (finely graded load increments, T03). Quark b2 (Cosmed) metabolic cart was used for breath- bybreath data collection and analysis. Data were averaged for each step, at 30 sec periods, and the AeT and AnT were defined by the modified V-slope method. The Students t-test was used to determine differences, while Pearson correlation coefficient (r) was used to determine the relationship between parameters of the two tests. Ε-poster not debated PP-UD01 607 27TH ANNUAL CONGRESS OF THE EUROPEAN COLLEGE OF SPORT SCIENCE RESULTS: At the AeT, the ventilatory parameters (VO2, BF, Vt, VE) did not differ between tests (p > 0.05 for all parameters). However, in T03 the RW speed was slightly, but significantly lower (7.01±0.60 : 7.32±0.76, p = 0, 02) as well as HR (131±15 : 136±16, p = 0.01). Significant, but moderate relationships at the AeT were found between the tests (r = 0.50-0.80, p < 0.05). At the AnT, the ventilatory parameters (VO2, BF, Vt, VE) as well as HR did not differ between tests (p > 0.05 for all) while the RW speed was higher (8.69±0.77 : 9.06±0.83, p = 0.008). The highest maximum (technically correct) RW speed achieved in T05 was also higher (10.94±0.88 : 11.21±0.98, p = 0.005). Significant, but moderate relationships at the AnT were found between the tests (r = 0.55- 0.85, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Determination of VO2 and ventilatory parameters at the ventilatory thresholds for race walking is not protocol dependent. However, caution is warranted in test protocol implementation as race walking speeds at AeT and AnT are protocol dependent.

race walking, ventilatory threshold, anaerobic threshold, aerobic threshold, progressive load tests

nije evidentirano