Maximal and submaximal cardiopulmonary responses to whole-body simulated swimming

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between oxygen uptake and heart rate in response to whole-body simulated swimming. Nine club swimmers (mean ± SD; age: 20 ± 4 years, stature: 1.68 ± 11 m, mass: 63 ± 12 kg) signed an informed consent and participated in the study. All subjects performed a simulated front crawl combined arm-pulling and leg-kicking incremental exercise test to exhaustion using a swim bench and a leg-kicking ergometer. Oxygen uptake (VO2) and heart rate (HR) were recorded at 15 s intervals and at exhaustion (VO2peak; HRpeak). The HR at ventilatory threshold (VT) was determined (VTHR) and the VO2/HR relationship explored. The mean ± SD for VO2peak and HRpeak values were 3.3 ± 0.4 L·min-1 and 174 ± 8 b·min-1 respectively, whereas VTHR occurred at 162 ± 5 b·min-1 at a predicted VO2 of 2.4 ± 0.4 L·min-1. The relationship between VO2 and HR was shown to be linear in all subjects (r=0.94; P<0.05). Previously published data have demonstrated linear relationships between HR/EI and VO2/EI (r=0.99 and r=0.98 respectively; P