Energy cost and energy sources of ball routine in rhythmic gymnasts

The energy cost and the different energy sources of competitive rhythmic ba il-routines were assessed in nine young elite rhythmic gymnasts (13 -16 yea rs of age). The overall energy requirement of ball exercise (VO(2)eq) was o btained by adding the amount of VO2 during exercise above resting (VO(2)ex) to the VO2 up to the fast component of recovery (VO(2)al) and to the energ y equivalent of peak blood lactate accumulation (VO(2)Ia(-)) of recovery. T he lactate (La) curve up to 25 minutes of recovery always showed La peaks a t 3 min after exercise (4.0 +/- 0.4 mmol/l) and values still above rest at 25 min (2.3 +/- 0.5 mmol/l). Although ball routines were short in duration (90 s), the metabolic power requirement was 1.1 times higher than the subje ct's (V)over dot O(2)max. The energy cost (VO(2)eq) amounted to 81 +/- 5 ml .kg(-1). Higher fractions of VO(2)eq were VO(2)ex 49% and VO(2)al 42%, whil e the remaining 9% was due to VO(2)la(-). The aerobic source resulted in th e most utilized system due to the subjects' high (V)over dot O(2)max (52.7m l.kg(-1).min(-1)) and anaerobic threshold (LT = 84.4%). The HR and the peak lactate values of ball routine were similar to the values recorded at LT s tep during treadmill test. Although the HR and (V)over dot O-2 values were significantly correlated (during preexercise, exercise, and fast recovery), the exercise intensity derived from HR Kanvonen method during ball routine did not correspond to the % of (V)over dot O(2)max.