Chaverri, D., Iglesias, X., Barrero, A., Schuller, T., Štrumbel, B., Hoffmann, U., Rodríguez, F.A. (2013). VO2 Peak measured during 200 m is not different from that calculated with a new model after a 200-m maximal swim. 18th Annual Congress of the European College of Sport Science, INEFC Barcelona. (Barcelona).

1. Chaverri, D., Iglesias, X., Barrero, A., Schuller, T.,
Štrumbel, B., Hoffmann, U., Rodríguez, F.A.
VO2 Peak measured during 200 m is not different
from that calculated with a new model after a
200-m maximal swim. 18th Annual Congress of the
European College of Sport Science, INEFC Barcelona.
(Barcelona).
xiglesias@gmail.com
Sport Sciences Research Group INEFC Barcelona
Grup de Recerca en Ciències de l'Esport INEFC Barcelona
Grup Consolidat (SGR 2014–1665 GRC)
Institut Nacional d’Educació Física de Catalunya
Av. de l’Estadi, 12-22
08038 Barcelona (Spain)
+34 93 425 54 45
http://inefcresearch.wordpress.com/
http://www.slideshare.net/ResearchINEFC
gruprecercainefc@gmail.com
@Recerca_INEFC

2. Aim
Measuring V’O2 during swimming is a complex and cumbersome
procedure. Backward extrapolation (BE) is often used for estimating V’O2
during exercise but error can derive from a delay at the onset of the V’O2
recovery curve.
We aimed to compare direct peak V’O2 during a maximal incremental
test with estimated values after a free 200-m maximal swim using a
new modeling procedure.
Methods
11 elite swimmers performed 3x200 m at increasing submaximal speeds,
followed by a maximal 200-m front crawl swim.
Direct V’O2 measurements
V’O2 was measured breath-by-breath using a portable gas analyser (K4 b2,
Cosmed, Italy) beat-by-beat from RR intervals (CardioSwim, Freelap,
Switzerland). V’O2 peak 20s was the average of the at last 20 s. V’O2 peak
FIT was the asymptotic value of the 2-phase non-linear fitting regression.
Post-exercise V’O2 measurements
On a separate session, all swimmers performed an all-out front crawl 200-
m time trial and respiratory gases were collected at the immediate recovery
during 30 s via a Hans-Rudolph 7400 oro-nasal mask. Peak vV’O2 was the
post-exercise 20-s average calculated using the mathematical model
proposed by Schuller et al. (2013):
vV’O2(t) = HR(0) / HR(t) · V’O2(t)
where vV’O2(t) is the virtual V’O2 at time (t) of recovery, HR(0) is the peak
HR during the last 10 s of the swim, and HR(t) and V’O2(t) are the the 1-s
interpolated value at (t).
Differences between peak V’O2 exercise and recovery vV’O2(200) were
assessed using a two-tailed paired t-test, and correlation was examined
using the Pearson’s linear correlation coefficient (r).
Chaverri D.1, Iglesias X.1, Barrero A.1 , Schuller T.2, Štrumbel, B.3, Hoffmann U.2, Rodríguez F.A.1
Results
A summary of results using different calculations of V’O2 peak during
exercise and recovery is shown in Table 1.
• Exercise peak V’O2 (mean±SD 3270±653 ml·min-1) was not different
from recovery vV’O2(200) (3268±669 ml·min-1; mean diff. 2 ml·min-1,
p=0.97).
• Both parameters were highly correlated (r=0.97) and the standard error
of the estimate was low (SEE 169 ml·min-1).
Conclusions
• Montpetit et al. (1981) showed that peak V’O2 estimated using the
BE method was not different from peak V’O2 measured during an
incremental swimming test using Douglas bags
• Frequently, a time delay of the V’O2 recovery curve occurs and BE
overestimates peak V’O2 (Rodríguez 1999)
• We found no significant differences between directly measured
peak V’O2 during an maximal incremental test and that calculated
using the new model based on post-exercise V’O2 measures and
HR kinetics, which indicates the validity of the new method
Montpetit RR, Léger LA, Lavoie JM, Cazorla G. (1981). Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol, 47(4),
385-391.
Rodríguez FA. (1999). Biomechanics and Medicine in Swimming VIII. Jyväskylä, Gummerus.
Schuller T, Rodríguez FA, Iglesias X, Barrero A, Chaverri D, Hoffmann U. (2013) 18th ECSS
Annual Congress, Barcelona.
Table 1. Peak V’O2 during exercise and recovery of 200-m maximal swims
using different calculation procedures. Mean last 20s during exercise was
used as criterion value for comparisons
References
Figure 1. V’O2 profile during recovery after a maximal 200-m front crawl
time trial (n=11)
Time (%)
V’O2(ml·min-1)
VO2 PEAK MEASURED DURING 200 M IS NOT DIFERENT FROM THAT CALCULATED WITH A NEW MODEL AFTER A 200-M MAXIMAL SWIM·
chaverri.diego@gmail.com
1 GRCE, INEFC-Barcelona, Universitat de Barcelona (Spain), 2 Institut für Physiologie und Anatomie, Deutsche Sporthochschule Köln (Germany)
3 University of Ljubljana (Slovenia)
Peak V'O2 values Mean SD 95% IC R SEE Difference
ml/min % p-value
Exercise
20s mean 3270 653 2831 3709
Nonlinear fit (bxb) 3209 645 2776 3642 0.99 95 2.9 0.05
Recovery
BE linear fit (bxb) 3444 745 2943 3944 0.91 286 8.7 0.09
BE 3x20s means 3446 739 2950 3943 0.91 278 8.5 0.08
BE 4x20s means 3344 754 2838 3850 0.90 297 9.1 0.47
vV’O2 (new model) 3268 669 2819 3718 0.97 169 5.2 0.97
BE: backward extrapolation; bxb: breath-by-breath; HR-VO2 model
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
4000
4500
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
BE Linear Fit
TD
vV’O2 (new model) (Mean diff.= 2ml·min-1, p=0.97)
BE Linear Fit (Mean diff. = 173ml·min-1, p=0.09)
Measured V’O2
vV’O2 (new model)