Avaliação do potencial anaeróbio de nadadores de natação adaptada com base na determinação de limiares de fadiga a partir de curvas de variação intracíclica da velocidade

Abstract

The evaluation of the anaerobic potential appears to be essential for the training control of the anaerobic pathways wich are stimulated during the sports preparation of swimmers. An innovative and alternative method assessing that potential, based on the analysis of intracyclic velocity variation curves, revealed promising results when applied to pure swimmers. However, it has never been tried with para swimmers. The aim of this research was to evaluate the anaerobic potential of para swimmers using that method to conclude over its value when used to calculate the anaerobic potential of para swimmers. The study included 14 elite swimmers, seven para swimmers (23.14 ± 4.67 years, 62.63 ± 14.20 kg of body weight and 171 ± 0.14 cm in height; 4 S8, 2 S9 and 1 S7) and 7 able-bodied swimmers (16.74 ± 1.15 years old, 65.24 ± 10.20 kg of body weight and 173 ± 0.09 cm in height), who performed a 25 m swim all out course connected to an electromechanical speedometer that made it possible to obtain an instant swimming speed record. The speed curves generated by the speedometer were analyzed using a routine written in the MatLab program, which allowed the determination of the fatigue thresholds that are suspected to separate a zone of dominance of the anaerobic alactic pathway from the lactic pathway. The maximum and mean speeds of the underwater move, the mean swimming speed and the fatigue index were higher in able-bodied swimmers. The coefficient of variation of the mean speed and the number of cycles swam were higher in para swimmers. After applying the MatLab routine, it was possible to identify average fatigue thresholds for both groups of swimmers (para swimmers: 7.71 ± 1.25 s vs able-bodied: 6.36 ± 0.90 s, p≤0.05). In the para swimmer's group, no variable was different in the second time interval defined by the fatigue threshold. In the able-bodied swimmer's group, the total swimming time and distance and the number of cycles swam were higher in the second time interval. Once the fatigue thresholds distinguish time zones of different behavior, it would be expected that more variables were different in the two intervals. In consequence, it was concluded that the determination of the anaerobic potential through the analysis of the intracyclical speed variation curves, with determination of fatigue thresholds, has to be taken with some care for para swimmers. The profile of the results leads to the suspicion that the development of this potential may be limited in para swimmers, which may be due to a predominantly aerobic training content or to the mechanical (and possibly physiological) limitations imposed by each deficiency. It was concluded, therefore, that the determination of anaerobic potential in para swimmers with this method still needs to be developed.