The Effect Of An Adventure Sprint Race In The Haematological Parameters Of Athletes

Abstract

Adventure sprint racing is a very complex, high intensity, multisport event, performed in natural environment. Although the physiological demands of each modality (trekking, mountain biking, swimming) have been extensively investigated, the effect of the competition in many physiological parameters was not properly investigated. PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of an adventure sprint race in haematological parameters of athletes. METHODS: Blood from seven athletes (aged 27.7 ±5.9 years, weight 63.2 ±3.68 kg, VO2peak 60.84 ±1.81 mLO2.kg-1.min-1) were collected 24 hours before and immediately after the race. The competition consisted of 12 km of trekking, 100m of vertical climbing and 30 km of cycling, with a total distance of 42.1 km.The number of erythrocytes and total leukocytes, hematocrit, hemoglobin concentration and the mean corpuscular volume (MCV) were evaluated by automated cell counter (Coulter). Comparisons of results were obtained by Student's paired T test for parametric variables, and Wilcoxon for non-parametric ones. Heart rate (HR) was monitored during racing by a cardiofrequencimeter (Polar, RS 800). Results:During racing the mean HR of athletes was of 170 ± 12 bpm, and the maximum HR achieved was of 192 ± 9 bpm. The number of erythrocytes (from 5.46×106 ± 0.53×106cells/mm3 before, to 4.85×106 ± 0.38×106cells/mm3 after race), hematocrit (from 52.83 ± 6.48%before,to 45.63 ± 3.11 % after race), hemoglobin concentration (from 19.11 ± 2.98g/dL before, to 16.19 ± 0.99 g/dL after race) and MCV (from 97.54 ± 4.82μ3 before, to 94.24 ± 2.51μ3 after race) were reduced (p<0.01) after the competition. However the number of leukocytes was increased after race (p=0.004) from 6.22×103 ± 2.04×103cells/mm3to 14.81×103 ± 3.53×103 cells/mm3. CONCLUSION: The competition lead to alteration in all haematological parameters evaluated what can be due to the high physiological demand of the event.