ORIGINAL ARTICLE  EXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOMECHANICS 

The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 2020 February;60(2):214-9

DOI: 10.23736/S0022-4707.19.09967-5

Copyright © 2019 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Mechanical power during an incremental test can be estimated from 2000-m rowing ergometer performance

Tiago TURNES ^{1, 2} ✉, Leonardo T. POSSAMAI ¹, Rafael PENTEADO dos SANTOS ², Rafael A. de AGUIAR ², Guilherme RIBEIRO ², Fabrizio CAPUTO ²

¹ Sports Center, Physical Effort Laboratory, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil; ² College of Health and Sport Science, Human Performance Research Group, Santa Catarina State University, Florianópolis, Brazil

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to identify the relationship between the mean power output of 2000-m rowing ergometer performance with the peak power output obtained during an incremental test, in addition to verifying the possibility of using the 2000-m mean power as an intensity associated with V̇O2max.
METHODS: Nineteen rowers (age 25.5±10.6 years; V̇O2peak: 65.4±5.8 mL/kg/min) completed an incremental test followed by a 2000-m familiarization test (day 1) and a 2000-m rowing ergometer test (day 2). During the incremental test, the peak power output (PV̇O2peak) and the exercise intensity thresholds were determined. The maximal oxygen uptake (V̇O2peak) was analyzed in both tests.
RESULTS: The PV̇O2peak (284.8±44.7 W) presented the highest correlation coefficient (r=0.978) with 2000-m mean power (284.2±49.9 W) and was the only one included in stepwise regression explaining 96% of 2000-m mean power. V̇O2peak was lower in the incremental test (4.69±0.61 L/min) compared with the 2000-m rowing ergometer test (4.86±0.63 L/min; P=0.01) with a small bias limits of agreement (0.16±0.53 L/min).
CONCLUSIONS: 2000-m mean power is a valid tool to estimate the PV̇O2peak and allow the achievement of V̇O2peak. Furthermore, the PV̇O2peak was the most important predictor of performance.

KEY WORDS: Anaerobic threshold; Physical fitness; Body composition; Water sports