Abstract
Thirty-four college-age fitness swimmers, 19 males and 15 females, were maximally
tested during treadmill running (TR) and tethered swimming (TS). A discontinuous,
graded test protocol was used for both TR and TS with 2-min stages and 1-min rest
periods. Peak HRs were obtained via a UNIQ CIC monitor during the last 120 s of each
stage. Blood lactate was measured at 3 min post exercise using a YSI Model 27 Analyzer.
TS peak HR was significantly lower (p < 0.05) than both the age-predicted HRmax (220 - age) and TR peak HR by 13 and 11 bt ·min-1 respectively. Blood lactate for TS (8.0 mmol·1-1) and TR(8.1 mmol·1-1) were similar. Mean target heart rate range (THRR) calculated from TS peak HR (144
- 176 bt · min-1) was significantly lower than THRR calculated from age-predicted max HR (151 - 187
bt·min-1) and TR peak HR (151 - 186 bt·min-1). For young adult fitness swimmers, we suggest reducing the HRmax obtained from treadmill exercise or predicted from age by 12 bt·min-1. This correction appears to be a reasonable estimate of swimming HRmax that can be used for calculating exercise intensity.
Key words
Exercise prescription - heart rate - swimming - running
