Comparison of cardiopulmonary responses to two types of dry-land upper-body exercise testing modes in competitive swimmers

In this study we compared cardiopulmonary responses to upper-body exercise in 13 swimmers, using simulation of the front-crawl arm-pulling action on a computer-interfaced isokinetic swim bench and arm cranking on a modified c ycle ergometer. Subjects adopted a prone posture; exercise was initially se t at 20 W and subsequently increased by 10 W . min(-1). The tests were perf ormed in a randomised order at the same time of day. within 72 h. The highe st (peak) oxygen consumption (VO2peak), heart rate (HRpeak), blood lactate ([1a(-)](peak)) and exercise intensity (EIpeak) were recorded at exhaustion . Mean (SEM) peak responses to simulated swimming were higher than those to arm cranking for VO2peak [2.9 (0.2) vs 2.4 (0.1) 1 . min(-1) P = 0.01], HR peak [174 (2) VS 161 (2) beats . min(-1): P = 0.03], and EIpeak [122 (6) vs 102 (5) W; P = 0.02]. However, there were no significant differences in [1 a(-)](peak) [9.6 (0.6) vs 8.2 (0.6) mmol . l(-1) P = 0.08]. Thus simulated swimming is the preferred form of dry-land ergometry for the assessment of swimmers.