Anaerobic and aerobic performance of elite female and male snowboarders

Abstract

The 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 only little 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 Polish snowboarders with untrained subjects. Ten snowboarders and ten aged matched students of Physical Education performed two exercise tests. First, a 30-second Wingate test was conducted and next, a cycle ergometer exercise test with graded intensity. In the first test, peak anaerobic power, the total work, relative peak power and relative mean power 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 the control 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 maximal power. The elite snowboarders demonstrated a high level of anaerobic power. The level of relative peak power in trained women correlated negatively with maximal oxygen uptake. In conclusion, our results seem to indicate that the demanding competition program of elite snowboarders provides a significant training stimulus mainly for anaerobic power with minor changes in anaerobic performance.

Periodization and Self-Regulation in Action Sports: Coping With the Emotional Load

“…Clearly, the impacts involved in P&P can be taxing, whilst activities such as “hiking the pipe” (walking up the side if lift cycles are too long, unavailable or inappropriate) at altitude can make training a physically demanding event. Most of the time though, when generally working with gravity rather than against it, P&P athletes’ energy expenditure and workload is comparatively low (e.g., Zebrowska et al, 2012 ). As this paper has suggested, however, the emotional challenge can be very high, especially when athletes are taking new tricks to snow for the first time.…”

The Role of Aerobic Capacity in High-Intensity Intermittent Efforts in Ice-Hockey

“…Karakoç et al [ 19 ] have found in young soccer players significant negative relationships (–0.66) between peak power and FI measured in the Wingate anaerobic test and Yo-Yo intermittent recovery test level 2 performance. The study by Żebrowska et al [ 41 ] showed a significant negative correlation (–0.95) between relative peak power obtained from the Wingate test and O 2 max in female snowboarders.…”

The Physical Profile of Elite Boardercross Snowboarders

“…To our knowledge, there are only two prior studies that have attempted to characterize physical attributes of elite snowboarders [6,7]. Our study attempted to build on these previous efforts as well address the call for further research by Ruotsalainen [18]; who indicated that research needs to be conducted in the areas of dynamic balance, speed, agility, and muscle power endurance.…”

“…Common field tests were used to quantify parameters of physical fitness, as opposed to the previous research efforts [6,7] which relied upon laboratory based tests. We felt this was a strength of our study in that most coaches and athletes do not have access to research or performance labs.…”

“…Boardercross snowboarding is a highly physically demanding sport requiring, balance, technique, power, endurance, and strength. Although normative athlete data has been established for many different sports [3][4][5], few studies have observed the physical characteristics of elite boardercross snowboarders [6,7]. The purpose of this study was to obtain physical characteristics of highly trained boardercross snowboarders.…”