Abstract
The aim of this study was to examine the exercise intensity during the swimming, cycling, and running legs of nondraft legal, Olympic-distance triathlons in well-trained, age-group triathletes. Seventeen male triathletes completed incremental swimming, cycling, and running tests to exhaustion. Heart rate (HR) and workload corresponding to aerobic and anaerobic thresholds, maximal workloads, and maximal HR (HRmax) in each exercise mode were analyzed. HR and workload were monitored throughout the race. The intensity distributions in three HR zones for each discipline and five workload zones in cycling and running were quantified. The subjects were then assigned to a fast or slow group based on the total race time (range, 2 h 07 min–2 h 41 min). The mean percentages of HRmax in the swimming, cycling, and running legs were 89.8% ± 3.7%, 91.1% ± 4.4%, and 90.7% ± 5.1%, respectively, for all participants. The mean percentage of HRmax and intensity distributions during the swimming and cycling legs were similar between groups. In the running leg, the faster group spent relatively more time above HR at anaerobic threshold (AnT) and between workload at AnT and maximal workload. In conclusion, well-trained male triathletes performed at very high intensity throughout a nondraft legal, Olympic-distance triathlon race, and sustaining higher intensity during running might play a role in the success of these athletes.
Highlights
Triathlon is a multidisciplinary endurance sport consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over a variety of distances [1]
The times to complete the swimming (−20.8%) and cycling (−4.9%) legs in an actual Olympic distance (OD) race were significantly shorter for the faster group in association with superior maximal and submaximal measures in the incremental swimming and cycling tests, as compared with the slower group
These results suggest that the differences in swimming and cycling performance between the two groups were highly dependent on aerobic capacities, as assessed by specific incremental tests for each of the exercise modes
Summary
Triathlon is a multidisciplinary endurance sport consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over a variety of distances [1]. The most common distances include the sprint (25.75 km, ~1 h), half-Ironman (113 km, ~4–5 h), and Ironman (226 km, ~8–17 h), and the most popular is the so-called Olympic distance (OD), consisting of standard distances for swimming (1.5 km), cycling (40 km), and running (10 km), for a total of 51.5 km. The total competition time of the OD race ranged from about 1 h 50 min to 2 h 40 min, with swimming accounting for 16%–19% (20–30 min), cycling of about 50%–55% (60–80 min), and running around 29%–31% (30–50 min) [3,4]. Previous studies have assessed the acute consequences induced by the OD race, which include muscle [9,10] and intestinal damage [9], muscle fatigue [10], dehydration (>2%–4% body mass due to high sweat rates and high core temperatures, i.e., >39 ◦C) [11,12], systemic inflammation [13], transient immune suppression [14], reduced pulmonary diffusing capacity [15], and decreased aerobic exercise capacity [16,17]
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