Biomechanics and Medicine in Swimming XI

tude and time delay of the slow component. In our study, low adjusted
coefficients for the second exponential (fitting VO2 slow component
kinetics) were observed to both trials above and below RCP. Despite
high variability, this variable was in an acceptable range for the goodness
of fit. There was observed a substantial variability for the most of
the amplitude and time parameters of VO2 kinetics above and below
RCP. Although, the accuracy of the estimation was not compromised
and the on-kinetic response was described comprehensively across heavy
and severe domains shifting exercise intensity slight above and below
RCP. The main VO2 response shown in the two swim velocities were
(a) patterns in the time constant for the primary and slow components
remained unchanged; (b) time delay was significantly shorter during exercising
at severe domain only for primary component; and (c) although
slow component was unchanged between heavy and severe domains,
it lead to the attainment of VO2max when above RCP. Thus, some of
trends reported to Carter et al. (2002) for changes in the amplitudes
and kinetics of the VO2 response profiles on treadmill across heavy and
severe domains were also present in this study.
The major finding of this study is that VO2 kinetics in swimming
around RCP gathers the pulmonary VO2 responses reflecting heavy and
severe domains of exercise. Therefore, VO2 kinetics may be applied rather
than CP to either diminish the tests used to access domain boundaries
or the protocol variability associated with the determination of CP.
Furthermore, if a challenge for coaches is to induce a required profile
of physiological responses from a given training load, the study of VO2
kinetics during different swimming intensities could provide a valuable
insight for training prescription.
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chaPter3.PhysioLogyandBioenergetics
Hormonal, Immune, Autonomic and Mood State
Variation in the Initial Preparation Phase of a Winter
Season, in Portuguese Male Swimmers
rama, l. 1 , Alves, F. 2 , teixeira, A. 1
1Research Centre for Sport and Physical Activity, University of Coimbra,
Portugal
2Faculty of Human Kinetics, Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal
At the initial phase of seasonal preparation, swimmers are submitted
to a sudden increment of training load. Because the amount of training
is normally less than the maximal that will be imposed later on in the
season, coaches do not pay much attention to how athletes accommodate
this increment. This study aims to analyse at rest, the variation of
serum and salivary cortisol and testosterone, salivary IgA, HRV and the
Profile of Mood States (POMS) after the first meso-cycle of a winter
swimming season in a sample of 13 male Portuguese swimmers
of national level. In this study, the impact of the initial phase of
seasonal training on the athlete’s adaptation in a multidimensional
approach was investigated. Significant variation in hormonal,
mood and autonomic variables were found, which justifies
paying attention to athletes work tolerance, especially in the
initial phase.
Key words: salivary IgA, heart rate variability, hormonal response,
PoMs
IntroductIon
Swimming as an endurance sport is recognized as a sport where athletes
are normally submitted to heavy training loads. In seasonal planning the
option at the beginning of the season of a marked load in the training
volume is common, aiming to hit as soon as possible, high volumes focusing
on aerobic adaptation (Pyne & Goldsmith, 2005). Because this
does not correspond yet to the maximal requirements of the training
season, coaches do not always pay enough attention to the inability of
athletes to adapt to this sudden increment of training volume (Maglischo,
2003). Although their performance capacity does not seem to be
impaired, the high requirement of body resources often stresses the athlete’s
adaptation capacity. This precarious balance between positive and
negative influence of the training stimulus and the related fatigue, modulate
training adaptation. In the domain of control of training, researchers
have put their efforts into looking for biological and psychological
markers that can be used in an effective way to prevent inadequate adaptation
(Norris & Smith, 2002).
The hormonal response to training is a recurrent strategy in the control
of training. Among the several markers used, the hormones testosterone
and cortisol were among the most used to follow the response
to training load (Hooper, Mackinon et al, 1999). In brief, cortisol is
considered because of its response to stress and catabolic action, while
testosterone is used because is considered to be a marker of anabolic
function. Looking at the resting values of these hormones, the literature
suggests that a decrease of testosterone and increase of cortisol in endurance
training athletes is common (Duclos et al. 2001). Although the
controversy persists, generally the reduction of cortisol is necessary as a
pre-requisite for performance improvement (Bonifazi et al. 2000). The
salivary content that corresponds to the free and biological active form
of the hormones may constitute a less invasive and preferable marker
(Paccotti et al. 2005). It is accepted that salivary IgA is a mucosal immune
marker that shows reduced values after long periods of training
which could compromise training and performance capacity (Pyne et al.
2000; Gleeson et al. 2000).
Heart rate variability (HRV) has become a promissing and useful
indicator that reflects the autonomic response to training. Autonomic
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