Anaerobic and aerobic performance of elite female and male snowboarders

Abstract

AbstractThe physiological adaptation to training is specific to the muscle activity, dominant energy system involved,muscle groups trained, as well as intensity and volume of training. Despite increasing popularity of snowboarding onlylittle scientific data is available on the physiological characteristics of female and male competitive snowboarders.Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the aerobic capacity and maximal anaerobic power of elite Polishsnowboarders with untrained subjects. Ten snowboarders and ten aged matched students of Physical Educationperformed two exercise tests. First, a 30-second Wingate test was conducted and next, a cycle ergometer exercise testwith graded intensity. In the first test, peak anaerobic power, the total work, relative peak power and relative meanpower were measured. During the second test, relative maximal oxygen uptake and lactate threshold were evaluated.There were no significant differences in absolute and relative maximal oxygen uptake between snowboarders and thecontrol group. Mean maximal oxygen uptake and lactate threshold were significantly higher in men than in women.Significant differences were found between trained men and women regarding maximal power and relative maximalpower. The elite snowboarders demonstrated a high level of anaerobic power. The level of relative peak power in trainedwomen correlated negatively with maximal oxygen uptake. In conclusion, our results seem to indicate that thedemanding competition program of elite snowboarders provides a significant training stimulus mainly for anaerobicpower with minor changes in anaerobic performance.