ABSTRACT
In fin swimming the leg muscles are dominant during propulsion. It was felt that tests using isokinetic movements (Cybex) might provide some insight into the physical ability of the athletes’ muscles. The purpose of this study was to compare performance and blood lactate response (BLa) to exercises in water with isokinetic measures. Fin swimmers (six male and eight female) of the German national team had their BLa and anaerobic thresholds (AT) assessed for 100 m and 400 m (V-4mM100 and V-4mM400) swims using the 2×100 and 2×400 m two-speed tests (BLa max=BLa after 100 m sprint). Five maximal isokinetic extensions, peak torque (PKT) and average power (AP) of the repetition with the highest total work (TW) as well as BLa (BL60), total work (TW60) and decrease of work (∆SW) for 60 maximal repetitions were measured for each leg and the different speeds. Blood lactate increased significantly after each test. Peak torque, AP, TW and TW60 correlated with the 100 m sprint time, V-4mM100 and BLa100max but not with V–4mM100. Despite a strong relation between ∆SW and both BLa100max and BLa60, BLa60 did not correlate with BLa100max. An increase of both V-4mM400 and BLa100max improved PKT (multiple r=0.87) but caused a greater ∆SW. It can be concluded that PKT, AP, TW and TW60 reflect the sprint performance capacity of fin swimmers. The Cybex results are related to the swim specific aerobic and anaerobic performance capacities. After the prolonged maximal test on land BLa60 was not related to BLa100max in water.
