Arm and leg power output in swimmers during simulated swimming

Purpose: Previously, it has not been possible to compare power output of th e arms and legs during simulated swimming using dry-land ergometry. The pur pose of this study was to determine arm-pulling and Leg-kicking power using isokinetic dry-land ergometry. Methods: Twenty-two highly trained male swi mmers of mean (+/- SD) age, 23 +/- 3.6 yr; body mass, 75 +/- 5.9 kg and sta ture, 1.79 +/- 0.04 m were recruited to the study. First, subjects performe d 10 s of air-out exercise at each of five resistance settings, with 1 h re st in between, to determine the best maximal pull velocity (MPVopt). Second , they performed an all-out 30-s test at MPVopt, which was repeated the fol lowing day. These repealed 30-a tests were performed separately using simul ated front-crawl arm-pulling and leg-kicking, on a computer-interfaced swim bench and purpose-built leg-kicking egometer. Peak and mean power output ( PPO; MPO) were determined from regression analysis of the power vs time rel ationship. Results: The mean (+/- SEM) PPO for arms and legs were 304 +/- 2 1 W versus 435 +/- 36 W. For MPO, the means were 225 +/- 31 W vs 312 +/- 26 W, respectively. These values were attained at mean MPVopt of 2.5 +/- 0.2 m.s(-1) for arms and 2.3 +/- 0.4 m.s(-1) for legs. The variation in PPO fro m repeated testing was 7.3% for arms and 8.3% for legs. Conclusions: These results show that the legs can sustain greater power output than the arms d uring simulated swimming. Also, the inh a-subject variation in measurement of power output is small using these dry-land ergometers. These methods of assessment might be useful in explaining swimming performance and in monito ring changes that take place during training.