Anaerobic Threshold Biophysical Characterisation of the Four Swimming
                    Techniques

Diogo Duarte Carvalho; Susana Soares; Rodrigo Zacca; João Sousa; Daniel Almeida Marinho; António José Silva; João Paulo Vilas-Boas; Ricardo J. Fernandes

doi:10.1055/a-0975-9532

International Journal of Sports Medicine, Table of Contents

Int J Sports Med 2020; 41(05): 318-327
DOI: 10.1055/a-0975-9532

Training & Testing

Anaerobic Threshold Biophysical Characterisation of the Four Swimming Techniques

Diogo Duarte Carvalho

¹Faculty of Sport, Centre of Research, Education, Innovation and Intervention in Sport, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

²Porto Biomechanics Laboratory, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

,

Susana Soares

¹Faculty of Sport, Centre of Research, Education, Innovation and Intervention in Sport, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

,

Rodrigo Zacca

¹Faculty of Sport, Centre of Research, Education, Innovation and Intervention in Sport, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

²Porto Biomechanics Laboratory, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

³CAPES Foundation, Ministry of Education of Brazil, Brasília, Brazil

,

João Sousa

¹Faculty of Sport, Centre of Research, Education, Innovation and Intervention in Sport, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

,

Daniel Almeida Marinho

⁴Department of Sport Sciences, University of Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal

⁵Research Center in Sports Sciences, Health Sciences and Human Development, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal

,

António José Silva

⁵Research Center in Sports Sciences, Health Sciences and Human Development, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal

⁶Department of Sport Sciences, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal

,

João Paulo Vilas-Boas

¹Faculty of Sport, Centre of Research, Education, Innovation and Intervention in Sport, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

²Porto Biomechanics Laboratory, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

,

Ricardo J. Fernandes

¹Faculty of Sport, Centre of Research, Education, Innovation and Intervention in Sport, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

²Porto Biomechanics Laboratory, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

› Author Affiliations

Abstract

The anaerobic threshold (AnT) seems to be not only a physiologic boundary but also a transition after which swimmers technique changes, modifying their biomechanical behaviour. We expanded the AnT concept to a biophysical construct in the four conventional swimming techniques. Seventy-two elite swimmers performed a 5×200 m incremental protocol in their preferred swimming technique (with a 0.05 m·s⁻¹ increase and a 30 s interval between steps). A capillary blood samples were collected from the fingertip and stroke rate (SR) and length (SL) determined for the assessment of [La], SR and SL vs. velocity inflexion points (using the interception of a pair of linear and exponential regression curves). The [La] values at the AnT were 3.3±1.0, 3.9±1.1, 2.9±1 .34 and 4.5±1.4 mmol·l⁻¹ (mean±SD) for front crawl, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly, and its corresponding velocity correlated highly with those at SR and SL inflection points (r=0.91–0.99, p<0.001). The agreement analyses confirmed that AnT represents a biophysical boundary in the four competitive swimming techniques and can be determined individually using [La] and/or SR/SL. Blood lactate increase speed can help characterise swimmers’ anaerobic behaviour after AnT and between competitive swimming techniques.

Key words

physiology - biomechanics - biophysics - anaerobic threshold - elite swimmers

Full Text

References

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