An examination of respiratory and metabolic demands of alpine skiing

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: To measure the cardiorespiratory and metabolic variables during the giant slalom (GS) skiing activity under actual race conditions using a mobile gas analyzer. METHODS: This study included 20 voluntary male alpine ski racers (mean age, 22.00 ± 1.45 years) who participated in international races. First, incremental running test was conducted to obtain volunteers' maximal oxygen consumption (VO(2max)) values. Second, respiratory data were measured during their performance on the GS course. Before both GS performance and incremental running test and at 1 minute, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes after the tests, blood lactate concentration was measured. RESULTS: VO(2max) values of the volunteers were 51.36 ± 2.68 mL/kg/min and they used 74.96% of this during their performance on the GS course. Their blood lactate concentrations reached the maximum level of 13.69 ± 2.06 mmol/L at the 5(th) minute following the maximal exercise testing. After the GS performance, blood lactate values reached the maximum level of 10.13 ± 0.43 mmol/L at the 3(rd) minute. While the maximum heart rate was 196.5 ± 4.3 bpm during the maximal exercise testing, it reached 201.7 ± 20 bpm during the GS performance. CONCLUSION: It is observed that the GS race is a high-intensity activity and that high amount of anaerobic contribution is used by alpine ski racers during the GS race. By contrast, it is understood that the aerobic contribution is also at a considerable level during such an anaerobic activity as GS.