RESEARCH ARTICLE
Comparison of Treadmill and Kayak Ergometer Protocols for Evaluating Peak Oxygen Consumption
Jose Augusto Rodrigues dos Santos1, 2, *, Rui Filipe Santos Sousa1, Tania Patricia Amorim1, 2
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2012Volume: 5
First Page: 130
Last Page: 133
Publisher ID: TOSSJ-5-130
DOI: 10.2174/1875399X01205010130
Article History:
Received Date: 27/12/2011Revision Received Date: 20/06/2012
Acceptance Date: 21/06/2012
Electronic publication date: 19/10/2012
Collection year: 2012
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
The main goal for training in sport is to elicit the adequate physical loads to induce the desired adaptations. To achieve this goal it is necessary to continuously assess the alterations induced by training, which can be done by field or laboratory tests. The aim of the present study is to compare peak oxygen consumption of elite kayakers on treadmill and kayak ergometer protocols in two moments of a training season. Five elite sprint kayakers performed two maximal tests (treadmill and kayak ergometer) to assess peak oxygen consumption, maximum heart rate, and performance indicators. Tests were conducted in two different moments of the season: in the preparatory period in October (M1), and in the competitive period in April (M2). Peak oxygen consumption on treadmill were 4.66±0.44 L.min-1 (58.4±3.3 ml.kg-1.min-1) and 4.55±0.31 L.min-1 (58.0±3.2 ml.kg-1.min-1) in M1 and M2, respectively; on kayak ergometer the values for this parameter were 4.47±0.40 L.min-1 (56.04±4.18 ml.kg-1.min-1) and 4.17±0.60 L.min-1 (53.21±8.36 ml.kg-1.min-1) in M1 and M2, respectively. The statistical analyses (Friedman Test and Test T Wilcoxon) showed no significant differences (p>0.05) between ergometers in the two moments of the study. The data obtained, both in treadmill and kayak ergometer, also showed no significant differences (p>0.05) between moments of a training season. It was concluded that in well trained kayakers the achievement of peak oxygen consumption is similar using treadmill or kayak ergometer exercise, and that this parameter is not suitable to detect performance alterations during the season.