Manipulation of Stroke Rate in Swimming: Effects on Oxygen Uptake Kinetics

Int J Sports Med DOI: 10.1055/a-1930-5462The study aimed to assess the effect of different front crawl stroke rates (SR) in the oxygen uptake (V̇O2) kinetics and V̇O2 peak, the total time to exhaustion (TTE), and blood lactate concentration ([La]) at 95% of the 400-m front crawl test (T400) mean speed (S400). Twelve endurance swimmers performed a T400 and four trials at 95% of the S400: (i) free SR, (ii) fixed SR (100% of the average free SR trial), (iii) reduced SR (90% of the average free SR trial), and (iv) increased SR (110% of the average free SR trial). V̇O2 was accessed continuously with breath-by-breath analysis. The results highlighted: (i) the time constant at increased SR (13.3 ± 4.2 s) was lower than in reduced the SR condition (19.5 ± 2.6 s); (ii) the amplitude of the primary phase of V̇O2 kinetics in the fixed SR (44.0 ± 5.8 ml·kg-1·min-1) was higher than in the increased SR condition (39.5 ± 6.4 ml·kg-1·min-1); and (iii) TTE was lower in the fixed SR (396.1 ± 189.7 s) than the increased SR condition (743.0 ± 340.0 s). The results indicate that controlled SR could be considered a swimming training strategy, focusing on physiological parameters overload. [...] Georg Thieme Verlag KG Rüdigerstraße 14, 70469 Stuttgart, GermanyArticle in Thieme eJournals: Table of contents  |  Abstract
Source: International Journal of Sports Medicine - Category: Sports Medicine Authors: Tags: Training & Testing Source Type: research