Verifying Physiological and Biomechanical Parameters during Continuous Swimming at Speed Corresponding to Lactate Threshold

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to verify the physiological responses and biomechanical parameters measured during 30 min of continuous swimming (T30) at intensity corresponding to lactate threshold previously calculated by an intermittent progressively increasing speed test (7 × 200 m). Fourteen competitive swimmers (18.0 (2.5) years, 67.5 (8.8) kg, 174.5 (7.7) cm) performed a 7 × 200 m front crawl test. Blood lactate concentration (BL) and oxygen uptake (VO2) were determined after each 200 m repetition, while heart rate (HR), arm-stroke rate (SR), and arm-stroke length (SL) were measured during each 200 m repetition. Using the speed vs. lactate concentration curve, the speed at lactate threshold (sLT) and parameters corresponding to sLT were calculated (BL-sLT, VO2-sLT, HR-sLT, SR-sLT, and SL-sLT). In the following day, a T30 corresponding to sLT was performed and BL-T30, VO2-T30, HR-T30, SR-T30, and SL-T30 were measured after the 10th and 30th minute, and average values were used for comparison. VO2-sLT was no different compared to VO2-T30 (p > 0.05). BL-T30, HR-T30, and SR-T30 were higher, while SL-T30 was lower compared to BL-sLT, HR-sLT, SR-sLT, and SL-sLT (p < 0.05). Continuous swimming at speed corresponding to lactate threshold may not show the same physiological and biomechanical responses as those calculated by a progressively increasing speed test of 7 × 200 m.