THE ENERGY COST OF MODERN BALLROOM DANCING

Abstract

Modern ballroom dancing is a widely performed physical activity which is starting to be considered an actual sport discipline, though few studies on the argument are reported in literature. To get further insight on the functional model of this discipline six competitive modern ballroom dancing couples performed a simulated competitive standard sequences of modern ballroom dancing (MBDseq), consisting of 5 different dances (W: waltz; T: tango; VW: viennese waltz; FT: fox trot; QS: quick step). Anthropometric and physiological characteristics of subjects were: age 19.3 ± 2.3 yr for males and 19.3 ± 2.9 yr for females, height 175.8 ± 6.6 cm for males and 162.5 ± 4.5 cm for females, weight 69.1 ± 5.8 kg for males and 52.9 ± 7.3 kg for females, VO2max 60.9 ± 6.0 mlkg−1min−1 for males and 53.7 ± 5.3 mlkg−1min−1 for females. Heart rate and oxygen uptake (VO2) were recorded along all dances by a telemetric system (Q4 b2, Cosmed, Italy). Blood lactate concentration ([La]) was measured at rest, at the and of each dance, at the and of MBDseq and along recovery period. Each dance of the MBDseq lasted 1'45ö, recovery period between dances lasted 30ö. MBDseq values are referred to the active periods only: mean VO2 resulted 45.8 ± 6.0 mlkg−1min−1 (75.7 ± 10.6% of VO2max) for males and 38.0 ± 8.5 mlkg−1min−1 (70.8 ± 13.8% of VO2max) for females; mean energy cost deriving from aerobic metabolism resulted 566.2 ± 89.5 kJ for males and 360.8 ± 77.7 kJ for females. [La] peak reached 8.5 ± 2.3 mM for males and 8.3 ± 3.9 mM for females. When single dances were analyzed separately VO2 was found to increase up to the third dance (VW), decrease in the fourth (FT) and increase again in the last one (QS), the highest VO2 being found in the third dance for males (81.3 ± 8.1% VO2max) and in the last one for female (80.1 ± 10.7% VO2max). Lactate accumulation followed the same course. A high [La] production was reported in the first dance (1.83 mM/dance), probably due to the inertia of activation of aerobic metabolism, afterward [La] production decreased up to the fourth dance (−0.86 mM/dance), and then rose again in the last dance up to a peak value (1.82 mM/dance). Therefore, in the last but one dance (FT) a low [La] production and a low VO2 were found. In conclusion the present results suggest that the energy cost of modern dancing ranges from medium to high, both for the aerobic and anaerobic metabolism along MBDseq, according to the dance performed, relying W mostly on the aerobic metabolism and QS on both aerobic and anaerobic metabolism.