Physiological profile of Sri Lankan male long distance runners and sprinters competing at national level and university level; a descriptive study

Abstract

Introduction: Despite regular training Sri Lankan runners do not perform well in international sports arena. The performance of a runner is determined by cardiopulmonary fitness level. However, little is known about the cardiopulmonary fitness levels of Sri Lankan runners. Thus, the present study was conducted to assess the status of the cardiopulmonary fitness of a group of Sri Lankan national level and university level male long distance runners and sprinters. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the baseline data using interviewer administered questionnaire and clinical examination of 95 male runners [national level long distance runners (n = 27), national level sprinters (n = 27), university level long distance runners (n = 20), university level sprinters (n = 21)] and age and sex matched control subjects (n = 41). Cardiopulmonary exercise fitness was assessed by a fully automated Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing (CPET) machine. Results: The CPET parameters such as VO , peak workload, exercise duration, heart rate at rest (HR ) and 2max rest at peak (HR ), systolic blood pressure at rest (SBP ), and at peak (SBP ), diastolic blood pressure at peak rest peak rest (DBP ), and at peak (DBP ) amongst Sri Lankan national level runners indicated minimal improvement rest peak when compared to Sri Lankan university level runners. Further, most of the CPET parameters of Sri Lankan runners were lower when compared with those parameters of runners from the Asian region. Conclusions and recommendations: Cardiopulmonary fitness of Sri Lankan long distance runners and sprinters is low. Thus, training protocols are needed to be modified in accordance with the baseline CPET parameters to attain optimal cardiovascular remodelling to enhance he performance of Sri Lankan runners.