1. Role of aerobic metabolism in sprint swimming Enhancing performance
Dr Jamie Pringle; Dr Mike Peyrebrune
English Institute of Sport, Loughborough

2. Physiological description
Disproportional high volume of training
Sprint v endurance trained
Differences between individuals
Fitness status
Aerobic/efficiency interactions
Examples from other sports
Optimising warm-up
Examples from the research
Potential to enhance it?
Long v short course differences

3. Sprinting Definition Olympic events 50m Free & 100m events
Long Course vs. Short Course
Duration
- 22 to 26 s
- 48 to 70 s
Further adjustments for juniors & sub-elite level

4. Physiological description

7. Energy Metabolism

8. Considerably larger aerobic component than previously understood
Review of 30+ studies
Considerably larger aerobic component than previously understood
AEROBIC % 12 27 37 45 51 56 63 73 79
ANAEROBIC % 88 73 63 55 49 44 37 27 21
From Gastin (2001). Energy System Interaction and Relative Contribution During Maximal Exercise. Sports. Med. 31:

9. Differences between individuals

10. FASTER VO2 KINETICS DECREASES O2 DEFICIT
Cardiac patient or very unfit
Sedentary
Endurance trained

11. High type I fibres High type II fibres
Pringle et al (2003). Oxygen uptake kinetics during moderate, heavy and severe intensity ‘submaximal’ exercise in humans: the influence of muscle fibre type and capillarisation. Eur. J. Appl. Physiol., Vol. 89, pp

12. Potential for enhancement?

13. Anaerobic work capacity (AWC) and oxygen use – all-out
60 s race
55% anaerobic
45% aerobic

14. The speed at which VO2 rises
VO2 kinetics
The speed at which VO2 rises

15. aerobic 110% VO2 max 100% VO2 max ~95% VO2 max 2:20 ± 0:06 min:s
O2 deficit
O2 deficit
O2 deficit
aerobic
2:20 ± 0:06 min:s
5:13 ± 0:50 min:s
9:48 ± 0:47 min:s
Total O2 used: 6 L
Total O2 used: 15 L
Total O2 used: 31 L
Total O2 required: 20 L
Total O2 required: 29 L
Total O2 required: 36 L
O2 deficit: 14 L
O2 deficit: 14 L
O2 deficit: 15 L
Carter, Pringle, Barstow, Doust (2006). Int. J. Sports Med., Vol. 27, pp

16. Raises blood lactate – to 3 to 6 mM region
Prior heavy exercise
Raises blood lactate – to 3 to 6 mM region
Muscle ‘vasodilatates’ – blood flow and oxygen delivery improved
Subsequent exercise
VO2 response is effectively ‘speeded’ – faster adaptation
Repeated sprint recovery improved
Burnley et al. (2001). Exp Physiol ;86; ;

17. 10 min 20 min 30 min 40 min 50 min Prior heavy exercise
Effect lasts for ~30 min
Lactate elevated for up to an hour
Balance between recovery/restoration of AWC and residual effects of vasodilatation
10 min
20 min
30 min
40 min
50 min
Burnley et al (2006). J. Appl. Physiol., Vol. 101, pp

18. Differing types of warm-up
Blood
Blood
No warm-up
Moderate: 80% LT
Heavy: 6 min at 50% D
Sprint: 30 s all-out Wingate
Fixed
Self-paced
10 min
2 min
5 min
70% D
All-out
Burnley et al. (2005). Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 37(5):

19. 1.0 mM B[La] 330 W 1.0 mM B[La] 338 W (+3%) 3.0 mM B[La] 339 W (+3%)
No warm up
6 min easy paced
3.0 mM B[La]
339 W (+3%)
5.9 mM B[La]
324 W (-2%)
6 min ‘heavy’
30 s all-out effort
Burnley et al. (2005). Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 37(5):

20. Hunt J ,Brickley G, Dekerle J, Pringle J.
Effect of prior heavy and severe intensity exercise on swimming performance in relation to critical speed and anaerobic distance capacity
Hunt J ,Brickley G, Dekerle J, Pringle J.
Hunt et al, (2009) (submitted)

21. MARKERS OR EXERCISE INTENSITY
% VO2 Max CP LT
VO2 Max
Moderate Heavy Severe Pi
MUSCLE METABOLIC RESPONSES TO EXERCISE ABOVE AND BELOW THE ‘CRITICAL POWER’
10% <CP % >CP
[Pi] %
Time (min)
[PCr] %
PCr
Time (min)
Time (min) pH pH
Jones, Wilkerson, DiMenna, Fulford, Poole (2007). Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, 294:

22. EFFECT OF PRIOR EXERCISE
Prior heavy intensity exercise enhances exercise tolerance (Carter et al, 2005)
Residual acidemia (<5mM; Burnley et el, 2005)= Vasodilation
Bohr shift in Oxyhaemoglobin dissociation curve = O2 delivery
Elevated baseline VO2 (short recovery only)
O2 Deficit
VO2 slow component
Prior Severe intensity exercise reduces exercise tolerance (Jones et al, 2003; Carter et al, 2005)
Depletes anaerobic work capacity (Ferguson et a, 2007; Jones et al, 2007)
Accumulation of fatigue related metabolites (H+, Pi, K+) (Jones at al, 2007)
Ha = Prior heavy intensity exercise would improve performance whilst severe exercise would decrease performance in proportion to the (known) depletion of the anaerobic work (distance) capacity incurred in the prior exercise bout

23. PRIOR EXERCISE CONDITION PERFORMANCE TEST- SWIM TRIALS
Methods
Nine trained swimmers (4 female; age, 24 ± 2 years; mass 70 ± 4 kg) participated
STAGE 1
STAGE 2
PRIOR EXERCISE CONDITION
PERFORMANCE TEST- SWIM TRIALS
PRE-TEST/ CONTOL
100m Free
HEAVY
198 s at 95% of critical speed
NO PRIOR EXERCISE
100m Free
400m Free
800m Free
800m Free
100m Free
SEVERE
180 s at 105% of critical speed
800m Free
Measures:
Performance time without prior exercise-Derivation of the d v t relationship and estimation of CSS & ADC.
Performance time for maximal effort swim trials –used to recalculate the CSS & ADC under prior exercise conditions
Differences between conditions were tested using repeated measures ANOVA
Relationships between data assessed using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation

24. % worsening of performance time
Results
Measure
 (Significantly different to control P < 0.05)
Prior exercise
Time (s)
CSS (m.s-1)
ADC (m)
SR (cycles.min -1)
SL (m.cycle-1)
100m
800m
CONTOL
69.0 ± 3.1
672.2 ± 20.5
1.17 ± 0.03
20.1 ± 1.8
45.8 ± 1.5
33.2 ± 1.0
1.34 ± 0.04
1.82 ±0.05
HEAVY
70.0 ± 3.5
666.2 ± 22.0
1.18 ± 0.04
18.1 ± 1.8
42.1 ± 1.3
32.4 ± 0.8
1.46 ± 0.04
1.86 ±0.04
SEVERE
74.6 ± 3.5
670.1 ± 21.2
1.18 ± 0.03
12.7 ± 1.8
39.9 ± 1.6
32.9 ± 09
1.55 ± 0.06
1.83 ±0.05
Depletion of ADC (%)
% worsening of performance time
No ergogenic effect after HEAVY warm-up
Uniqueness of performance protocol
Anaerobic distance capacity was reduced by ~40% after SEVERE exercise
The worsening in 100m trial performance after SEVERE prior exercise was significantly related to the reduction in ADC incurred (r = 0.72; P <0.05)
800 m performance requiring a large aerobic contribution was less affected by reduced anaerobic reserve
Aerobic ~ 90%; Anaerobic ~10%
i.e. 40% reduction in 10%
4% reduction in total work is not detectable in this protocol

25. Pringle and Defever (2008, in press)
Pringle and Defever (2008, in press). Pre-exercise vasodilatation enhances total work production by increasing the aerobic contribution to ‘all-out’ cycle exercise and elevating the critical power
Power ~7 to 10 % higher
~10 to 13% more O2 used
~7 to 10% more work achieved
Significant beyond ~45 s

26. Pringle and Defever (2008, in press)
Pringle and Defever (2008, in press). Pre-exercise vasodilatation enhances total work production by increasing the aerobic contribution to ‘all-out’ cycle exercise and elevating the critical power

27. Long v. short course

28. Short Course Total Time = 55 seconds
The issue of SC (25 m) versus LC (50 m) in swimming training and preparation is a crucial one. The main issue involved is the pattern of energy metabolism between the 2 configurations. Swimming requires not only muscular contraction in the stroke movements themselves, but also starts and turns. The preparation for, execution of and the underwater phase after take up significant parts of the race. This can be used to the swimmer's benefit in that phases of starting and turning require different muscles to contract and therefore whilst the turning segment is performed, the stroke muscles are able to relax and recover.
Total Time = 55 seconds

29. Long Course Total Time = 56 seconds
This obviously over-simplifies the complex interaction of muscle contraction, but generally, the strokes involve a high degree of upper body muscular contraction during the course of the length, whilst the turning phase requires more muscular contraction from the muscles of the lower body.
Total Time = 56 seconds

30. Long Course vs. Short Course
Total swim time increases from 33 s to 45 s
Greater stress on aerobic energy sources
2. Swimming ~23 s sustained without a 'recovery‘ rather than 6-10 s
approximately 3 times the duration without a break - not double.
3. Check Stroke Counts to illustrate: ~ 3 to 1

31. Economy and efficiency
Maybe the real reason for high volume?

32. Training volume improves efficiency
“I train around 35 hours a week which means I probably swim around 120 km over the seven days. I guess that is probably more than a lot of people drive! … I do two swimming sessions a day, seven days a week… it's very hard work and the early mornings are tough but I enjoy the challenge. “
Ian Thorpe, BBC Sport 2002

33. Efficiency
Oxygen uptake
Swimming speed

34. Coyle (2005) Improved muscular efficiency displayed as Tour de France champion matures J. Appl Physiol 98:

35. Relationship between training history and efficiency
Metabolic component
Skill component
Improvements throughout a career
Can compensate for lesser VO2 max

36. Physiological description
Disproportional high volume of training
Sprint v endurance trained
Differences between individuals
Fitness status
Aerobic/efficiency interactions
Examples from other sports
Optimising warm-up
Examples from the research
Potential to enhance it?
Long v short course differences