An On-Site Test Battery to Eval~Ate Giant Slalom .Skiinq Performance

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1 1 ~ 1 . An On-site Test Battery to Eval~ate . ! Giant Slalom .Skiinq Performance

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By , .-

in partial fulfiliment of the requirements for the, degree of Master of- Arts . (Educatio~)

.' .' f Department of Physical Education

Division of Graduate Studies and Research Faculty of Education .. ) .. ~ MC~ill University • ,', , > _...,...... Montireal, Quebec . ,

\ January, 1988 t

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Permission has been granted rL' autorisation a étE! ac.cordl!e to the Nati-onal Library of à la Bibliothèque nationa1e Canada to Ilicrofilm this du Canada de microfi lmer thesi~ and to lend or sell cet te thèse et . de prêter ou copies of the ,film. ; de vendre des exemp1aires dU fi1m• • The author (~opyright owner) L'auteur (titulaire du droit j' has' reserved other d'auteur) se réserve 1es pub1ication rights, and autres droits de publicat~on: néither the thesis nor ni la thèse ni de longs extensive ex,tracts from it extraits 4e - celle-ci ne May be printed or otherwise doivent êt~e imprimés ou reproduced wi thout h~s/her autrement reproduits sans son written permis&ion. autorisation écrite.

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ABSTRACT

,/ • ,/ ,Thirty,-three subj ects were jf'Eudied using' tersts to meqsure pO\ier, agi-lity, anaerobic endurance and aerobic , IC! enduranc~ to determine if an on-site test battery would • ~distinguish among club (n = 11'), divisional (n = 14), and " provincial lever (n- = 9) giant s!alo.m skiers. Both /' construct validity and' criterion-related, validity of the

test battery were examined. univariate F tests1 were used to examine for differençes among the three levels, of...... skiers. Significant differences were found for the , following tests: peak power, me an power, and post-exercise , ( " lac:tàte, for, a 60s W.lngate. cycle erg0!Ueter ~est, high

significant correlations between giant slalom performance

time and these test variables: hexagonal obstacle test Cr,~

1 = .82), high box test (r = -.80), and double leg jumping (r

= -.86)-. These data illustrate that an on-site test battery can be used to d,istinguish among giant slalom

alpine ski~rs.

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Des mesures de puissance, d'agilité, d'endurance.. anaerobique et .aerobique ont ete '"evalue pour determiner si çes mesures p0l:lvaient diftinguer entre des skieurs alpins

de niveau club Cn = Il), divisi'on Cn = 14), ou provincial La validité de la batterie de--- tests a été , ., examiné. Une analyse de varian'ce a demontre une difference , significati~e en,tre les trois gaupes avec les mesures 04 suivantes; puissance maximale, moyenne q.e la puissance et """le niveau-d'acide lactique apres un Wingate de 60s, la course navette de Léger pour l' endurance aérobique, un ,1 / _ ( "high box test", ·un test d'obstacle hexagonale et un test ae saut a deux jambes. Certaines" variables de la batterie

ont etabli la validité puisque 'qu'il y ~it des cor rélations significatives entre le temps de p'~forrnance au ski alpin et le test d' obstacle hexagonale (r = .82), le 1 .., "high box test" (r = -;ao), et le saut a deux jambes (r. = Cl

-.86). En conclusion, ces dànnees demontrent qu 1 il est

possi~e de distinguer entre differents niveau de s'kieurs , alpins avec l'aide de tests physiologiques.

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.' ACRNOWLEDGEMEHTS )

The completion of this" document would not .have been possible. without the help and ·support of many people . ..1* • First', l would like to' thank roy family. . ,+hey h~ve a;Lways r been a source of reassurance, "".'êspecially my' Mom who has

always believed< '~strongly in my capabilities, and helped me

with proof-reading~ . Second, ,my sincere th~nks go' out to Susan Bartlett for

the many hours of' proof-reading and typing done on !{bis ,/"

l , thesis .. AIso, for understanding the vast time commi tment .. that it takes to write such a document.· l would al ~o l ike to thank coaches Tim Clark, Dan Lavallé, M.ike Sutherland, and Franko Bernie{r for allowing

,their athletes to take part in this study~ AIso, l wish to express my sincere gratitude to the skiers who took part in this study and gave an excellent effort on each test. To Tiro Gallivan, for help with the frustrating SPSS program. To Kelley Orr, George Boucher, Marek Kaczinski, for help with data collection, and especially... Dr. 'René Turcotte for translating my abstract, sitting on my

committee and helping with data collection .

.",Finally, to my advisor Dr. Bavid Montgomery for sUPPort and encouragement when ever it was needed. He has offered

many hOUliS of help and advice' in both my career, and my

academic pursuits for which l am most grateful. He is • truly an exceptional professor. , j v • \ . , , Tatie of Contents • 'li, CHAP1'ER 1 'ul • paqe Introductiqn ,- , [; 1. 1 Nature and scop~ of the proplem •••• -...... • . 3 '1. 2 Significance of \~he study ...••••••••...••••.. 7"

1. 3 Hypotheses ...... 8

1.4 Limitations •...••·l •••••••••••••• ~ ••• 'Ie ••••••••• 9 . 1.5 Delimitations ..•••..... · ..... · ...... " ... . 10

1. 6 Operational Definitions •....•••..•'. ~. . . • • • . •. 10

\ CHAP1'ER 2 If ~ Reviewof the literature

____1.. 2 • 1 Strength and power ...... · ...... 1 1 2. 2 ~aerobic endurance: ...... · ...... 13 , -- - , 2.21 The Wingate anaerobic test ...• · ...... 23 )

2.22 The hexagonal obstacle test ••• ~ ...... 26 2.23 , The high box test. · ...... 27 2.3 Aerobic endurance •....•• · ..... · ..... · ..... 28 2.31 The 20-m shuttle run test •.••• · ...... 33

Methods 3'. 1 Subj ects .• ...... · '- .... · ...... 35 3.2 Treatment of tHe subj ects ...•• . .. . . 36 • ·...... 3.3 Giant slalom time. trial ...... o " _ .. - "r· ...~ - ...... ~j, . _. l·~ ··W J ~- .~ .. , .

• Page) 3.4 Winqate anaerobic . · ...... 38 3,.5 Hexagonal obstacle test• •••.••••••••••••••••••?,~ • ~ , 40 ~ 3.6 ~ " High box test ...... " ...... 42

3.7 20-m shuttle run test ••••••••• ,. •• fi •••••••• • '.,' 43 3.8 Five double-leg jump test •.•••••.•••••••••••• 43 j.9 Vertical jump test •••• :...... , 44 o 3.10 Skinfold test ..••..••••••• , •• ~ ••••••.••••••• 44 '.' 3.11 Experimental design and st~tical analysis'45

-.' CHAPl'ER• 4 Results ,"" 4.1 Descriptive data...... · ...... 47 -4.2 Wingate anaerobic test •••••••• · ...... 49

4.3 On-si te tests ...... ". ~ ...... 52 20-m shuttle run test •• ;.: •••• · ...... 54

4.5 Giant slalom time trial ••••••• • ••••••• 11 •••••• 56 J

4.6 Coefficiets of variation ••.••••••••••• ~ •••••• 57 .\' 4.7 Correlational analysis •••••••• · ...... 59

CHAPTER. 5 ' '~ "Discussion 5.1 Caliber of the subjects. · ...... 61

5.2 Jumping tests ...... '.... ' .. · ...... ~ ...... 64 5.21 Hexagonal obstacle test ••••••••••••••••• 64 , '. o .' ····V c~ "

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1) Paqe 5.22 High box test ..•...... 66 5.23 Five double 1eg jump test...... 68

5.24 vertical jump test...... ~ 69 5.3' .wingate anaerobic test...... 70 5.4 Post exercise b100d lactate '.' ...... 73 j 5.5 20~m shutt1e run test ••••.•...... 75

CBAPl'ÈR 6 Summary, Conclusions and Recomendations

6.1 Summary ...... •...... •• ...... 7·8 6.2 Conclusions •• ...... 79 6;3 Recommendations. · ...... , ...... 80

REFERENCES. ., ...... · ...... ~. 82

APPENDIX...... ~ ·...... 89 k - Hexagonal obstacle test...... 89

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• List of Tables Table paqe ." 4.1 Physical\characteristics (X + S.O.) of club .r..... (n=l1), divisional (n=l4) and provincial (n=9) ski racers...... 48 4.2 Wingate anaerobic test (X ± S. E.) for the club • (n=11),- divisional (n=14) and provincial (n~9)

ski racers...... r50 4.3 .Résults (X + S.E.) for the high box, hexagonal

obstacle, vertical jump, and five doub~e leg jump test for club (n=ll), divisional (n=l4) and provincial (n=9) skiers...... 53 4.4 Results for the 20-m shûttle run test (X ± S.E.) for the club (n=ll), divisional (n=14) and provincial (n=9) ski racers ...... ••...•.•....• 55 4.5 Results (X + S.E.) for the giant slalom time trial for the club, divisi~nd provincial ski racers...... 56 4.6 Coefficients of variation of on-site tests •...•. 58 -4.7 Pearson correlation matrix of the performance variables (n=33)...... 60 ,'> '5.1 A comparison of peak power from various studies ~ using a cycle ergometer test with the Wingate

res istance...... 71 , 5.2 Aerobic characteristics of various ski racers... 77 o ' , " " • <,;.ç-'~jI _ .. \ ~' 1 .',1, ." f " " - '" ". , U~~ ". \ ~_ ;'Tf~ .~} ," . iX Q

List of Figures (~.

1 Fiqure " Page \ 0 \ 4.1 Power outputs during the 60 s Wingate test ...... ! 51

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CHAPTER 1

Introduction

.tI Karlsson (1984) notes that skiing dates back some 3000- 4000 years, when it. was a means of basic transportation in Northern Europe and Scandinavia. In the 1930's, the popu- larity of alpine skiing spread throughout much of the world, inclqding North America. The Red Bird' Ski Club, composed of McGill University Graduates, was fouhded in 1928. This club, took a leadership role in the development of slalom and downhill ski racing in Canada (Lunn, 1952). European skiers have dominated international alpine .' $ , skiing events, at major races over the past 30 years. The , Austrians, Swiss, and Italians have been the tradition~l . world powers.'" Most European c"ountries place great importance on the success of their racers. Implementation of scientific t.raining principles and physiological monitoring of their skiers has helped them remain among the world - \ leaders in a very competitive field. While thesè tea~s are \ still 'producing top caliber ski racers, they' are facing"

increasingly 0 stronger competition from Canadian and "U.S. . " - - ... f (] teams and several non-a~pine Europeart countries, as weIl.

The success of the Canadian men' s downhill team in the \ ' o f ... 'r~ l '-"','" i" ,'.'- • 1 1 .~, ,.

late 1970 t S (nicknamed "The Crazy canucks") heightened ~ .JtP at,tention on alpine -'ski racing in Canada. The Canadian'

'1 women's ski team now boasts competitors in the top seed in the dOWnhill, giant slalom and slalom events. With the international recognition of Canadian skiers, many young athletes are befng attracted to·this growing sport. Several organizations have been founded to promote

amateur ski raci~g. AlI national and internl.t~onal races are sanctioned under the control of the Fédération International de Ski (F . 1 .. S. ) . " F. l • S . was establ ished to

seed racers by awarding F. I. S. ~oints and to homologate' runs, thus ensuring approprlate levels of difficülty at aIl competitions. On December 11, 1920 the Canadian Ski Association (C. S • A.) was incorporated as the official national sport

governing body• for amateur.r skiinq in Canada. The CSA represeQ,ts Canada on a national level through membership wi th the Fédération International de Ski (F. I. S. ) . The overall mandate of the C.S.A. is the development of elite 1 .. athletes and the pursuit of exqellence in~ skiing! The C.S.A. also provides funding for research related to alpine

) 0 skiing. . . J • H~gh 'levels of fi tness may minimize the r isks

associated-with fatigue in competitive alpine skiing (B~own Il & Wilkinson, 1983; Ericksson, Nyqaard, & Saltin, 1977;

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Joubert, 1978; McGinnis, Piper, & Dillman, 1981). Marga- '\.... • ~ rieter, Ross, & Lugger (1976) reported that more accidents happen towards the end of race courses than at the , - beqirtning or middle, even thouqh courses become progres- o sively easier. They note that as the race progresses,

o increasing fatigue may place the athlete at a hrqher risk of in jury. H:i,.qh fi tness levels will improve tolerance to" high intensity exercise, which may help decrease the risk of inj ury. / .,Thus, even young club ski racers should be in

excellent physical condition prlor to enterin~ into , t, ,- competition. 1 > The evaluation of fi tness, as i t" relates to sport performance, is of major interest to sport phys~logists.. . Numerous tests have been developed to measure... the components of fitness specifie to a particular s~ort. T~e testing of athletes allows research'\rs ta identify cnaracteristics that outline physiological profiles Which)

may be reflective of Champion athlete~ (Wilmore,' 197~). iJ1

~l) 1. 1 Nature and sCQPe of the problem Alpine ski racing coAists of three disciplines: ," sÜl.lom, qiart slalom, and downhill. At the cy.visional and f national development level, skiers compete in two or aIl ~ ...,. three of the a~p i ne events. Each event requl.res a set:~et:i

of powerLul side-stepping movements, using th~ edges of ,'the " 0 '~, ~ -< IJ ô '-, "'... 1 ~,- L , , " ",: .•. ,:;,; 1?,'\"ê

l ~~ ." c 4 skis for control. The'downhill is geherally regarded as the most prestiq-

, \ iQ~s event. The course typically follows the faIl line of the hill and includes various'\ conditions such as "gullies", ..... "raIls", and sudden changes in the àteepness of the ter- raine Gates are set to steer racers away from danger, not to decrease speed. competitors must demonstrate excellent skiing technique, high levels of fitness, and courage. • 100 kin'hour-l , Average speeds for the downhill are ' 1 , \ while speeds as high as 140 kmohour- 1 are often . . . . ach~~ved through steep sectl.ons ,of the course (Jensen &

Tucker, 1972) 0\') The ~ownhill racer attempts to mainta~n an

>1 \ • aerodVnamic, low crouched or "tuck" position w-for the

, . duration of the race which is betweefl two and t-hree

minutes 0 Giant slalom is the most difficul t event to ski weIl

since it requires the. finest technical performance an~ top physical condi tioning (Canadian Ski Coaches Federation

[CSCF), 1983a). The course ls not set directly in the ~a~}

line as in the downhillo Average ,Speeds ~n ,the giant

slalom event, are 75 km 0 ho~r-l 0 The race is typica,;lly

60 to 90 s in .9P~\ation o." The gates are J'!l~ch closer

\ , together, emphasizing; a smooth series of carved turns ° , ' ~, ' Slalom racing" requires agility and knowledge of the

t~chnical race course. Slalom races-are set on steep, even " 0: , \ \ , ) " 'v y' \ .. , ::".'ü. ,-"l" $ .... <~ ,'.;~~:l',' ,~tt:'sr~i:"i~y"'~"f.~ .. <'j .... ~~,,~~ : ~~-.. ': .. ' (-:,. -~ ,""': ~ , .... l '.~'1" - • ~ ..

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• terrain. The speeds of the qiant slalom are never attained sinee the racer is constantly turninq across the fall

line. Slalom races ~nge from 45 to 60 s in duration. The gates are spaced, very élosely toqether, forcing increased reaction ability from the racer.

~ Each event requires strength, èoordination, balance, /" flexibility,., and varying deqrees of aerobic and anaerobic power .(Atkins & Hagerman, 1984). Alpine skiing is a v,ery ~ technical sport which requires each component of fi tness to be weIl developed. The duration and the deqree o'f difficul ty of the race course may ç-etermine the energy and ( strenqth"- demands of the event. The nature of alpine ski racing requires greatli leq strenqth. In comparison to -other athletes, skiers have , higher isometric leg-extension strength (Astrand & Rodahl,

1977; Karlsson, Eriksson, Forsberg,. Kallberg, & Tesch, 1978). Haymes ànd Dickinson (1980a) reported that both leq '-\ power and vertical jump are ~ignificantly correlated with

gi~nt slalom points for males on the,United Sta~es national

o team (r = .80 and .64, respectively). Aerobic and anaerobic endurance are two physiological

.;,t- variables which are important in many athletic endeavors.

Physiological assessment of alpine ski racing has been, examined by many investigators (Atkins - & Haqerman, 1984;

Brown f· Wilkinson, 1983; Burke, 1981; Ericksson, 1977; o 6

Ericksson et al., 1977: Gettman, 1977; Haymes & Dickinson,

1978; Haymes & Dickinson, '1980a; Karlsson et al., 1978;

Nygaard et al., 1978: Sa6Î'bene, corti~l i, Ga~az z i, & 1. ..i> Magistri, 1985; Tesch, Larsson, Eriksson, & Karlsson, 1978;

Veicsteinas" Ferr'éti, Margonato, Ros~, & Tagliabue, 1984) .. These investigations have substantiated the importance of "- both aerobic and anaerobic contributions to ·skiing per~or- Mance. veicsteinas et al. (1984) reported that in 1:;Ioth slalom and' giant slalom events, approximately 40% of the

energy was supplied aerobically while '60% was derived from \ - , ~ anaerobic sources. Haymes and Dickinson (1980a) found that 'O'02max (1.min- 1 ) was significantly correlated

.(~ = -.66) with downhill points in a group of 13 women on the United states ski team. Tesch et al. (1978). and Veicsteinas et al. (1984) report that international competi tors demonstrated lactate concentrations as high as 26 mmoles· kg-1 wet muscle after both slalom and giant slalom events. " . Physiological assessment may be useful to both the . t . , ...1 coach and a thlete for several reasons. identifies strengths and weaknesses, which assists in the , .. development of indi vidual training progranis. Second, - athletes may compare their test scores with the values of

elite'performers thereby increasing.. . motivation to adhere to .., > .. their tra~n~ng program. Third, testin.g also provides

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c ~ • feedback on the effectiveness of the individual training program through test-retest comparisons. Finally, physio- '\ logical testing and the process of interpreting test resul ts prov ides an opportuni ty for èducating athletes about the variables contributing to their performance '- (MacDougall, Wenger, & ~reen, 1982). Sport physiologists and/coaches who are developing test batteries for specifie sports should 'assess the capacity of '\ " each energy system and fi tness component used in compet~

i t ion. When assessing physiological parameters Jfor any sport, testers must establish the relative contribtttion of . ,

each energy system to the sport (Wilmor~ 1979). Traditionally, coaches have brought their, atllletes to the laboratory for testing of physiological parameters.

1.2 Significance of the studY Laboratory testing is both expensive" and time

consuming. The skier 1 s hectic winter schedUle makes i t di f f icul t to mon~or fi tness 1 evel s in the laboratory

du~ing the season. In 1978, Haymes and Dickinson tested 10 members of.. the

t:Jni ted S'tates women 1 s national ski team in August, prior to on-snm'l -training, and in April after the World Cup racing

\ season. Measurements included: skinfolds,. strength, power,

reaction time, and::·.'Vo 2max. Significant changes included o \ ..... /. ... ~,. r " . . ", 'l \ - ~ ..'<',"" ~. ~ 1 ., ••• ... , '~~:;.;:'~)~ , ,

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an increase in body fat and a decrease in vo 2max over the racing season. Hayrnes and Dickinson (1978) concluded that the time spent free-skiing and in training runs was not enough to maintain aerobic fitness levels in these athletes during the racing season.

The ski racer's competitive season is very de~anding. Constant travel, changing nutritional habits associated with the travel, and the psychological stress of compet ition make it difficult to maintain fitnéss levels. After a full day of on-snow training or a long day of travelling, it is difficult to motivate racers to participate in dryland training.

A battery of on-si te tests ,to periodically monitor physiological parameters should be useful té coaches. Test resul ts may help in exercise prescription of off-snow ,training thereby avoiding major fluctuations in fitness levels as the season progresses. On-site testing may increase motivation to maintain or to improve fitness levels. Hence, the purpose of this study is to determine if an on-si te battery of tests measuring power,'" aerobic

endurance and anaerobic endurance will 0 evaluate alpine " skiing ability.

1.3 Hypotheses:

1. 3.1 Differences in performance exist among three --

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9 ) • levels of alpine ski racers (provincial, di'-visiona-i: Îand -clUb) on the following tests:

1) High box test

" l 2) Hexagonal obstacle ~ 3) Five double 1eg jump test

4) Vertical jump test t::",",-- , 5) Wingate mean power 'Il, 6) Wingate peak power

7) tb-m shuttle run test 1.3.2 Performance time for a giant slalom time trial is'

associated wlth~the following variables: 1_____ 1) High box test

2\ Hexagonal obstacle test , ~\ 3~ Five double leg jump test 4) vertlcal jump test

5) Wingate mean power b

o 6) Wingate peak power . 7) 20-m shuttle run test

1.4 Limitations 1.4.1 The snow conditions -'for the "giant slalom time .trial" May not have been the same for aIl

", subjects. 1.4.2 Racers on the divisional and provincial ski teams

nad ~quipment' which was more suited to optimizing o

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racing performanc~, as sponsors provide special ized racing skis and boots that were not available t'O club racers.

1.5 Delimitations

~ubjects in this study were male club, divisional, and provincial ski racers.

1. 5. 2 The 33 subjects ranged in age from 13 to 19 years.

1.·5.3 Data were collected in mid April after the competitive season.

1.6 Operational definitions

Club Skier: A racer who was competing. at· the intra-club , level in the Laurentian zon~ and followed a formaI coaching program for the entire 1986-87 season. Oivisional racer: A racer who was currently competing on a full-time basis" during the winter months with either the Laurentian zone team or the National capital divisional team. These individuals had earned F. I.S. points. - Provincial Racer: A racer who was competing on· a r .. '1 full-time basis during the winter months on the ontario ski team. These individuals had earned F.I.S. points. F.I.S.: The Fédération International de Ski is a group that awards international points to racers· and . 0 I ~. f;:, 11 .. 1 • homologates 'certain runs to ensure appropriate diff{cUlty. Giant slaloill tillle trial: The sum of the best two of three runs on a' giant slalom course. , Maximal aerobic power: The highest p.redicted levei of oxygen consumption attained during a continuous,

graded, progressive 20-m shuttle run test (Léger & Lambert, 1982)"", i Mean power: The average _power output over 60 s of

cycling using.a modified Win~ate protocol. Peak power: The highest power output of any 5 s period during the 60 s modified Wingate anaerobic test.

Hexagonal obstacle tes~ The amount of time to complete six rotations of the hexagonal obstacle course. High box test: The maximal number of lateral-vertical jumps over a 40 cm wooden box in a 90 s periode

". ~L.:'.=-. :'. ".. '.' .. '. .,.., '; "~: - ,;: r \' ).. c 12 CHAPTER 2

Revie~of Literature

This chapter will be divided into three sections: J> 2.1 strength and power Il 2.2 Anaerobie endurance , \ 2.2.1 The Wingate anaerobi~ test 2.2.2 The hexagonal obstacle test 2.2.3 The high box test r-

0' ....• 2'.3 Aerobic endurance 2.3.1 The 20-m shuttle run test

2.1 strenqth and power It is weIl known that alpine' ski racers are charact

erized by great strength in the leg .-muscles (Astrand &

Rodahl, 1977; Gettman, 1974; Thorstensson, Larsson, & Tesch, 1977; Voroshkin, 1974). Astrand and Rodahl (1977) [ , ... reported tha t el ~ te 'S_wed~sh sk~ racers had ~n average static leg -strength of 2999 N. It was of interest that Ingemar stenmark' s' static leg strength was 3400 N; at that .' time, he was the best skier in the world. Average strength scores for other elite athletes were 2500 N. Astrand and Rodahl (1977) noted that alpine skiers generated higher static 1eg strength than a group of weight lifters.

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• Thorstensson et al. (1977) reported that alpine ski racers have isometric leg strength similar to eli te sprinters and jumpers. Skiers, however, did not compare as

favourably with dynamic streng~h at hiqh speeds of muscular çontraction (180 degrees/s) • In 1974, Gettman examined the relationship among F.I.S. -<~

points in the downhill, 1 giant slalom, ,slalom, and results _ of a fitness test battery. Female downhill performances

were ~est predicted ~s~ng 1 eg strength and, balance (multiple r = .49). Male downbill resul ts were best predicted by strengthjkg and grip strength (r = .67, r 2. =

'.45) • A multiple r O'f .66 was found using vertical jump and bopy fat percentage- as predictors of slalom success. J Haymes and Dickinson (1980b) found that the only physiological test which correlated consistently with both male and female performance (FIS points) was leg extension power'" measured by the Margaria-Ka1laman s.!:air run, correlated significantly with women's giant slalom

performance and men' s downhill performance. Song (1~82)

aiso found that performance was significantly (r = -.79)

correlated with hip ~lexion strength in junior racers. "

2.2 The anaerobic endurance " .

DUl."ing low intensity act.:i".vity, energy may be produced , almost ,'!ntirely from the aerobic energy system. As work o

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becomes more intense, anaerobic processes Çllso contribute. As the severi ty of wo,rk continues to increase, anaerobic ~ energy plays an increasingly g}:'eater role. Astrand and

Rodahl (19!2L._~tate that an increase in blood lactate is an indication of the involvement of anaerooic processes. They . ' also note that during . supramaxima-l , exercise, the oxygen - 0 def:i.cit escalates along with blood lactate levels, due to ( J anaerobic metabolifm. Tesch et al. (1978) classify alpine _ ski

anaerobic activity sinee the longest trial never exceeds 3

min. Karlsson et al. < (1978) and ,Ericksson, Forsberg, Nilsson, and Karlssot (1978) note that alpine ski racing

places maximal or, near max.imal demands on ~he circulatory system. Ski racing requires a great deal of muscular activity to combat the gravitational and centrifugaI forces

imposed by the race course. Alpine racing requires isometric contraction of the lower body musoulature for ..... almost the entire duration of the event. Karlsson et al. (1978) claim\ that nutritional blood flow decreases and . , . oxygen uptake is impaired in a statl.cally contracted muscle, resul ting in an increased accumulation of lactic 1 acid. Even with forces that reach 35-50% of voluntary muscle contraction, these physiological J?rocesses will occur. As a consequence, anaerobic metabolism increases.

Komi, Rusko, and Villka (197?> conducted a study e~am c

\ - ".!: .• •• 1 .- f" ";-." "

o 15

• ining anaerobic characteristics of 89 international caliber athletes in various sp,orts. Six of' these atl:lletes were

el i te ski racers. The skiers demonstrated the highest \ - levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LOH) and creatine phospho- kinase (CPK) of aIl the athletes tested. Komi et al. , . ,,(1977) reported that high activity of these enzymes is a

good indicator of an~erobic potential. c They also found significant relationships between vertical velocity in the Margaria step running test and enzyme activity (LOR and

CPK) • - 0" Karlsson and Ollander (1972) examined glycogen and lactate concentrations in the thigh muscle at rest and a fter leg extensions at different percentages of the

maximal indi vidua~ voluntary contraction (75%, 50%, 25%,

10%), sustained ta exhaustion. Enduranc~ times were O. 5, 1.6, 5.8, and 38.7 min respectively. The highest muscle

lactate concentration (21.8 rompl" kg-1) was found durlng

the 50% tension time~ At higher and-lower intensities, the lactate accumulation was less.

\ Maj or "internat·ional dowd~ill races for men -must have a i v~rtical drop of 90p to 1100 m over a course of 3 to 4 km

in length. In order to oft:er competitors a course of international caliber, races are often started in hypoxic , conditions. Thus, the anaerobic contribution to alpine ski racing is partly' due to envlronmental hypoxia (Saibene et o ~ ~,; t ,. , ...... i ~.:.,. .

. ' '\ o 16

- al., 1985) T~-- - o Gladden andJ Welch (1978) examined bl?od lact~te levels

during a cycle ergometer test at 120% of 'Ô'02max a~ 2000 m above sea level, compared to the same workload at sea level. They noted, that hypoxia can cause increased ventil

ation and alkalosis, which stimulate both 02 uptake and e lactate production in the muscle. Veicsteinas et. al. (1984, 1985) examined the aerobic and anaerobic energy contributions of members of the o " Italian national ski team, after a slalom and giant "slalom event. Both studies revealed that the energy cost for the

slalom event was about 20% greater than a giant slalom race of "the same-- duration. In both giant slalom and slalom events 'of re9:,ulation length, the glycolytic contribution represents about 40% of the total energy cost.

-- Due to the short duration and high intensitY~Qf a:pine ski racing, competitors must tolerate high levels of lacta'te. Astrand and Rodahl (1977) noted that lactate concentrations after a race were largely dependent upon the terrain and layout of the race course. Ericksson (1977).. / found' that after intense -, skii,ng or laboratory ~~~ts, L 1 '- compelt,]. tive ski racers were capable of achieving! higher , ! 1 lactate concentrations in both muscle 'and blood compared to advanced and novice skiers •.

In 1977, Ericksson et al. examined blood lactate o

\, . r,. 1 --- .., .:. .~. "!; -"_. ~~ ":1'. l'" . , < ,

~ • concentrations of elite alpine skiers" After an intens@ , training run, values were found to be above 10

.. - JiI mmol'l-l, Blood lactat.e concentrations were taken followi~cj regulation ,slalom, giant slalom, and downh{ll , courses, o~ the three alpine skiing events, the giant -slalom yielded the highest blood lactate levels, - This

suggests.. that anaerobic energy demands, are highest in this event. Oxygen debt measurements after competition \ o supported this theory, Saibene et al. .( 1985) found that . el i te ski ers had an average blood lacté\te of 9.0

1lUl101 '1-1 after an international gian'f slalom race"

Karlsson 'et al. (1:978) found blood lactic acid levels Cl of 13.0 (7.95 \5.7) mmol'l-1 for -alite male ski racers after a 93 s giant slalQm run, In contrast to Ericksson (1977), no significan'b correlation was detennined o with blood lactic acid concentrations after a giant slalom race in relation to pe~'formance in the race" Lactate :' values in slalom and giant slalom training were between 7 and 13 mmol"l-l. These values were significantly lower o ._._._ than those observed in conjunction with actual races and in maximal running, where values were between 13 and 18 - mmol'l-l, This could indicate that racers are not going "alI-out" in training runs.

Tesch et al. (1978) compared muscle lactate concentration.3 after intense exercise in alpine ski racers, ',.-0

o , ~_ f ,- '1 r " , 1. - - '. ,. , '. .'

{ _ J

skilled ski instructors, and physical education students.· } 1 Lactate concentrations were not ass,o_ciated wi th skiing ability. Furthérmore, muscle lactate çoncentrat"ions ( exhibited a very large range from 5 to 26 m~ol·kg-1 " 1 f after 1 min of maximal skiing. Il Recently, Veicsteinas et al. (1984) cempared lactate 'concentrations of elite ski racers and a control group of ski instructors after both 'slalom and giant slalom race conditions. No significant différences were found between t.hese two groups. However, when they compared lactate

Ievef.( after both a 55 s slalom and giant Sl~lom event, , they noted that racers produced levels 1.5 times higher in the slalom event. They concluded that lactate concentrations were hig.her at the end of 'an officinal giant slalom

-0 race- due to the length of the -event, which was approxi-

mately 90 s. In contrast, Saibene et al. (1985) found a

n~nvficant . cO,rrelation between lactic acid concentra- t10n and the durat10n of the rune

Ericksson et al. \1978) exàmined blood lactate ~evels

after recreational skiing by skilled and unskilled p~rfor-

~ mers. The unskilled ski ers de~onstrated higher muscle

lact~te concentration. They also examined muscle activity -, 1 /" using electromyoqraphy (EMG) on four muscle groups of the

lower performing a series of turns. The ~bodi-;hile 1 unskilled' skiers 'exerted longer sttatic muscle contractions, c

1 ',1< ~....., t : ' \', '

• ~' resulting in higher lactate concentrations. " Tesch et al.' (1978) examined the effect of different angles of 'ankle flexfèm in the ski boot on lactate accum- , ulation. The study 'required subj ects ta ski wi th boots

angled at 70 degrees and 90 deg'ees. The boots with the 201 degree angle caused significantl more laçtate accumulation si'ncs the skier ,was forced o assume a more ...... flexed - /T position. This position greater, static quadricep involvement when skiing, ~hUS reS\lting in greater lactate accumulat1on.# •

Nygaard et al. (1978) compared muscle lactate concen

trations in novice and expert skie*s after an intense 2 min

run. Concentrations ranged frdm 2 to 8. mmol· kg-1 of lactate after the run. Highe'.:- lac~ate concentrations were observed in skilled skiers. Karvonen, Rauhala, Chwalbinska-Moneta, and Hanninen

(1985)' tested both male and female slalom racers on a maximal, multi-stage cycle ergometer test in the f laboratory.~ The test started at 50 W and intensity was ., increased by 50 W every 3 min until exhaustion, The test was adminis before and after three months of intense training. The following Qarameters were

me.asured: i~al heart rate, physical performance

capacity, maximal oXYge~ uptake, and capillary blood lactic , ac it: concentrations at the end of each workload and o -, " \J'" .... .l,. j. ~~,~ _._I,.~., - j :' ,... --.. ,. --;,'7 .' ,\,\,.:t'''''.':'ii't~

, '-11 ", ", 20 c immediately after the end of pedaling. After- three months of ,slaiom training, physical performance capacity on the cycle ergometer test increased significantly in males, yet

vo2max remained the same. Lactic acid concentrations increased in men from 6.67 + 1.44 mmol·I-1 to 11.50 ±

1.25 mmol· 1-1 (p<. 001) and in women from 6.40 ± 1. 31

mmol·l- 1 to 10.85 + 2.35 mmol·l-1 (p<.OOl). The blood lactic acid values were also, higher after slalom training runs following three months of training. The authors. conclûded that' three months of regular slalom training resulted in an increase in physical performance capacity on a cycle ergometer, which was'probably due to an increase in anaerobic rather than aerobic endurance.

Brown and Wilkinson (1983) found no significant differ ences in blood lactate concentrations between national and club level ski racers following a maximal treadmill run

using the Cunningham and Faulkner (1969) protoco1. The Canadian national alpine team had an average (X+S.E.)

lactate coticentration of 12.9 ± 0.5 mmol·I-1 while the

"club racers averaged 12.4 ± 0.1 mmol·l-1 • Komi et al.

(1977) reported similar blood lactates after a maximal

treadmill run for el i te~ ski racers. The' skiers were , similar to athletes who r quire high levels of anaerobic

endurance, such as 800 m run ers and sprint canoeists. To examine muscle glyco en depletion and lactate "J" """'" """ ," "" ...~

\ 21

• accumulation, _ Nyg~ard et al. (1978) took muscle biopsies from the quad:r:iceps femoris ,prior to and following one day of recreationa1 skiing. Subj ects were 23 males and 5

fema1es ranging in ~bility from novice skiers to Swedish national team members. There was greater glycogen'

dep1etion from the skilled skiers (38 ± 8.4 mmo1'kg-1

of wet muscle) compared to, the novice skiers (27 ± 7.0 mmol'kg-1 of wet muscle). . When muscle glycogen dep1etion was examined in relation

to 'fiber type, the following results were obtained. In-~- " slow twitch fibers (ST), al'! subjects had reduced glycogen

s~pplies. The skilled skiers had the same reduction in the fast twitch type "a" (FTa) fibers- as was found in the ST - fibers, but \ litt1e or no decrease in the fast twitch type

"b" (FTb) fibers. In contrast,- the unskllied ski ers had a reduction in the ST "and FTb fibers with little or no reduction in the FTa. .,

Nygaard et al. (1978) noted that the only time a

selective 10ss of -glY9Pgen in the FTb fibers occurs is & ) . under maximal voluntary contractions.· It was suggested,

that since elite ski ers ' are not depleting FTb fiber~ they are not performing maximal muscu1ar contractions, as do

novice skiers. Nygaard, Eriksson, and Nilsson (1977) stated that experienced skiers use muscu1ar energy more

\ economlcal1y by taxing aerobic sources. Kar1sson (1984) o 22

stated that elite skiers consume more oxygen than leisure skiers while skiing because the el,ite skiers are more dynamically active while the leisure skiers tend to use static contractions.

Nygaard et al. (1977) monitored glycogen levels of recreational skiers for an entire ski week. Half the subj ects were instructed to eat a normal mixed diet, while the other half were instructed to eat an extra high carbohydrate diet on Day 4 of the study"_ Morning glycogen concentrations were assessed by taking muscle biopsies each day of the study. Results, indicated that those subjects with no dietary manipulation demonstrated decreased glycogen levels of 30 mmol· kq-1 wet muscle over five days. Subj ects who consumed the extra high carbohydrate diet on Day 4 of the study had completely restored theJr glycogen levels to pre-exercise values on thé' morning of Day 5.

Ericksson (1977), also reported lower glycoqen levels after one day of recreational skiing. '---...·Ericksson et aL

(1977) found selective depletion in mostly the ST fibers. They noted that selective depletion of the ST fibers could be the reas6n that there are more accidents at the end of a day ,of skiing, since skiers would have less resistance to fatigue. Ericksson et al. (1977) noted that both hiqh lactate val-ues and glycogen depletion contribute to the

., " ! ~" ~"- ;r-";:-"~ ï"" "" \ "," ) "' \- " """ l '~I" v"" \ , " J"), j

23 , , , , • risk of injury in downhill skiing. Tesch et al. (1978) examined the seleètive glycogen depletion patterns in skilled and unskilled skiers following different skiing conditions. Three members of the Swedish national team served as the skilled group, • while. eight physical education students represented the 'unskilled group. The skilled subj ects demonstrated greater ' depletion of the ST fibers than did the unskilled subjects. Muscle glycogen dropped by an average of 32 Mmol gluco-se units·kg-1 wet muscle after two days of intense

skiing. Unskilled skiers only decreased an average of 22

mmol glucose units·kg-1 wet mus~le. , .Tesch et al. (1978) had the skilled group of skiers train on a giant slalom course one, day, and on a slalom ' course the followlng day. The drop iI'! glycogen levels amounted to 34 mmol glucose units· kg-1 for giant slalom training and 21 mmol glucose units·kg-1 for slalom 1;.raining.

2 .2.1 The Wingate anaerobic test

-The w~nga~e test has become a popular test for the

~evaluation of short term, exhau~tive exercise. The wingate .test consists of 30 s of exhaustive, supramaximal cycling

against a resistance determined ~elatiye ta body weight. Three in.iices are calculated fram the Wingate test: peak o \' , '. \ " ~ , "

power, mea~ power and a -fatigue index.

Inbar, Dotan, and Bar-Or (1976) determined that a 30 s supramaximal cycling test requires a greater anaerobic component than an lIall-out" aerobic test. Dotan and Bar-Or

(1980) found that neither climate nor humidity had a signif icant effect on performance in the wingate anaerobic test for 'children and adolescents. The~ concluded that the practicality and reliability of the test is maintained in

field settings where climat~ or humidity are not strictly controlled.

Andersen and Montgomery (1,987) tested divisional alpine skiers' on three occasions during the ski season. There were no significant,changes in me an power or peak power on a 30 s Wingate test from the pre-season to the end of the competitive season.

stark, Reed, and-Wenger (1987) compared power character istics of elite downhill and slalom ski racers using a modified 90 s Wingate protocol. They found that the elite slalom racers had a greater peak power output but more , power drop-off. A biphasic fatigue response was revealed in the power curves. The inflection- in the percent drop-off curve occurred between 30 and 40 s, indicating excellent anaerobic endurance. The authors stated that

L' these resul ts would not have been seen in a 30 s protocol. 1

Jacobs (1980) and Kaczkowski, Montgomery, Taylor, and - ... -~ ..... ~t·Fr~~· ... , .. II.~ •• "j - i.··· .. ··1··;- l' , ..... , ...• f -,. .. ~.;..;. ! ..,~ ,'~ . _. \ ' ,

• Klissouras (1982) have ~etermined that lactate formation during the Winqate test is considerable. Jacobs et al.

(1982) reports that lactate concentrations are increased by more than six timea resthlq values in female physical education students. Jacobs, Bar-Or, Karlsson, and Dotan

(1983) reported that male subj ects demonstrate signif

icantly greater lactate values than females after both 10 s

and 30 s of supramaximal cycling. . - Performance on the Wingate test is strongly correlated to the preponderance of fast twitch muscle fibers (Bar-Or

et al., 1980; Inbar et al., 1979). Both, peak power and

mean pO,wer are excellent predictors of 300 m run

performance (Inbar et al., 1979).

Lavoie, Dallaire, Brayne, and Barrett (1984) determined that higher peak power and maximal power outputs could be , elicited using toe-clips compared with the same protocol, without stirrups. Lavoie, Mahoney, and Marmelic (1978) suggest' us ing toe-cl ips for any testinq on a cy'cle ergometer:. 1 Dotan and Bar-Or (1983) recommend re..sistance settings

for children of 0.066 kp' kg-l body weight for fentales,

a-nd 0.070 kp' kg- 1 body weight for males aged 13-14 years, to ob tain load optimization in the Wingate test. They also found that res istance 'settings of 0.085

kp·kg- 1 body weight for women and 0:087 ·kp·kg-1 o

,/ / ------26

\ body weight for men would allow optimal loading to take ·place.

Inbar and Bar-Or (1986) found that both peak power and Mean power increased consistently from age 10 to young

adulthood. Th~se indices seem to peak at the end \ of the

~ third de cade of life. Durinq the second decade of lifè, there is approximately a 35 w·yr-1 increase in the" peak power and sorne 30 w·yr-1 increase for mean power fdr a 30 s test. ...

2.3.2 The hexagonal ,obstacle test The hexagonal obstaœle test consists o.f a series of railinqs placed at various heights on each side of the lfexaqon. Subjects start in the midd1e of the hexaqon and

jump over ~ach railinq to complete a given number of

~otations around the hexagon as quickly as·possible.

McGinnis et al. (1981) determined that the hexag9nal obstacle test was a valid test since it discriminated between exceptionally skilled, highly skilled, and. recreational ski racers. They. also found the test to be a ) \ reliable measure of alpine skiing abil~ty in both men and J 'women, throuqh a test-retest procedure. The ,authors also recommend@d including this in a battery of tests to assist

coaches in the selection of ,. athletes. Andersen an~ Montgomery (1987) found that divisional ski racers' hexa- c

", .. _ ...... _.... - ...... ";" ,.. .. - i""'·, <, ,",... -

27 1

gonal obstacle times did not significantly change through- • , ' , out an entire ski season. Jasmin, Hoshizaki, and Montgomery (1984) had p.e. students perform six trials of the test to assess relia- - bility. They reported a rellability coefficient of r, = .973. Since a learning effect was seen over six trials, the authors suggested allowing ample practice time. Jasmin

et,. . al. (1984) recommended using six revolutions of the hexagon instead of the traditional three or four sinc~ the - longer version represents a better measure of anaerobic endurance. Scores' of the hexagonal (six revolutions)

obstacle test de.J[lonstrated a' significant correl~tion (r = -.39) with anaerobic treadmill "times. ,- d

2.3.3 The high box test The high box test has, subjects jump on and off the high

box as many times as, possible in 90 s ô The test was developed by Kornexl (1977) as a measure of anaerobic endurance and dynamic balance. Shea (1983) and .McGinnis et al. (1981) found the· high box _' test to- be a val id test for assessing the' alpine skier's anaerobic' endurance. McGinnis et al. (1981) found that the test may be use fuI in discriminating and identi fying the exceptionally skilled male skier. Using multiple

regressi ln analysis, ·Shea (1983) found that a combination o , ' , ,J 1 Q

of the ~igh box and vertical jump scores. accounted for 79% of the variance in alpine ski racing performance. The Canadian ski team field test manual (Ski Canada, 1983) suggests that 80 jumps be considered a minimal score for males, while 114 is considered idea1. For females the minimal score is 76 jumps, and the ideal value is 98.

McGinnis et al. (198~J reported~ 17-18 year old male racers averaged 80 ± 12 jumps in 90 s., Brown and Wilkinson (1983) found that high box scores demonstrated a significant (p< ;01) positive correlation (r = .58) with anaerobic tr~a(imill. times. Andersen and , .. Montgomery (1987) found no signifioaht changes in, high box performance from the . pre-_season to end of the competitive season.

, "

2.3 Aerobic endurance ~ ---- Many studies have reported a' significant correlation -f' between aerobic capacity. and alpine skiing performance

(Astrand & Rodahl, 1977; Haymes & Dickinson, 1980a; Song, o 1982: Veicsteinas et al., 1984). Ellte alpine ski racers

are characterized by moderate to high aerobic capacities

'_when compared to the normal population (Brown_ & Wilkinson, 1983; Karlsson et al., 1978; Rusko et al., 1978). However, - their values are not as high as those obtained by cross

l'country skiers and other endurance athletes (Haymes & Ir " <~ 1'1"""\ '1:~"}:\-"l:'j- '"""~..;". ~ ..... ".. )~ .... .- _"1 ':il' ~,"~',~"" > ~"" ,

• Dickinson, 1980a)., These ,findings should be expected due 'to the relatively short" duration of the alpine skiing

ey~nts (Haymes &~ Dickinson, 1980a). • Haymes '& Dickinson (1980a) found tha t Vo 2max was \ significantly related to performance in elite female downhill ski racers. -Song (1982) conf irmed these resul ts with a significant correlation of r = -.62 (p<.Ol); \ Haymes & Dickinson "(1980b) tested ~ U.S. national \ :;>, - team using a standardized baftery of physical tests that included aerobic, capacity, isometric leg extension . # ; strength, leg muscular power, leg response time, balance,

.- 1 ag.ility,, and body composition. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between test scores and

skiing pe'rfQ.rmance. Resu! ts revealed thà~~ax is the

single - m-ost important factor in predicting performanc~ -in the downhill for females and that it plays a signif,icanto role in predicting slalom and giant slalom success in males. As the race course. lengthens, the need for aerobic energy increases. Since downhill events may last as long - as 3 min, high aerobic fitness is required. _ Foss and Garrick (1978) note that racers wi th high oxygen uptakes are able to exert strong, powerful contrac tions, endure sustained work and recover quickly from high

intensi ty tasks. High aerobic capaci ty also allows II • " ,...,~ ~-

30 ( athletes te work in an aerobic state longer, with less dependence on anaerobic metabolism.

Ericksson et al. (1977) noted that the aerobic nature . of aÏpine ski racing is shown by the great mi tochondrial c" ( activity in the vastus lateralis of competitive ski

" racers. Ericksson (1977) found the succinate dehydrogenase- (SOR) activity of elite ski racers to be twice the level of : seden:t:ary adults. Rusko et al. (1978) fQund 'skiers to have similar SOH activity as physical education students, speed

r 0 • skaters, an~ nordic-combined skiers. , Agnevik et al. as cited by Astrand and Rodahl ~ 1977) measured Bengt-Erik"'"O Grahn, an elite slalom racer, for

l' maximal oxygen uptake on a cycle ergometer. Heart rate was

~tored d~ng the entire test. His vo2max was 3.9 l/min and his -màximum heart rate was 207 beats/min. Using

telemetry, his heart rate~ was recorded before and ~uring a êo~petitiv~lalom race. Th: heart rate was ab ove 160

beats/min berore the race began. As

began, t~e heart rate immediately elevated to the maximal , . v level obta,ined during the cycle ergometer test.

Veicsteinas et al. (1984) found that D both racers and ~ ',-_ l , professional ~ski, instructors achieve4 maximal heart rates

in simulated slalom anp giant slalom races. 0 FOllowing the , '

c ) ~,,. .. ..

• race, there was a "37 ± Il s lag ·period before the heart rate started to decline.

Aerobic and anaerobic metabolism of slalom 0 and giant slalom events were studied by Veicsteinas et al. (1984). Oxygen uptake during exercise and two minutes into recovery . were collected in meteorological balloons in a customized backpack. Blood was drawn for lactate concentrations o before exercise and at the fifth minute of recovery. The \J 02 cequiv~lent for lactate was assumed to be 3.15 ml 1 °2 ' kg body wt- for an increase of blood lactic acid of 1 mmol·l-l .

The total oxygen cost of each performance w~s calculated as follows: o . . . . V02tot = V02ex + V02rec + V0 2LA

• • V0 2ex and V0 2rec represented litres of 02 'above resting consumption. V0 2La was, the 02 equivalent of the net ,accumulated lactate. VO 2 rec assumes that the amount ,of 02 consumed in recovery is used to reconsti tute phosphates during exercise. ,The total energy was divided j. - into aerobic, lactic, and alactic fractions. In both o slalpm and giant slalom events of 55 sand 70 s respec- -

tively, -the energy sources were found to be 40% aerobic, 0 , 40% lactic, and 20% alactic. Recreational ski ers démon- o .. 32

$trated the sarne pattern as members of the Italian national

ski team. . High ~ergy expenditures would beo expected since the subjects reached-their.maximal heart rate by the end of each rune Several stud'ies have examined the muscle fiber compos

ition of elite skiers. KO~i et al. (1977) reported éllp,ine

ski ers had ~7% ± 8% FT fibers which was significantly lower than the control group. Rusko et al. ( 19 7 8) compared a ) \. • large group of international level athletes in aerobic capacity and muscle fl.ber composition. They reported that alpine ski racers averaged 37% FT fibers. Ericksson et al.

(1977) reported that a' group of 12 female racers from the

1 Swedish national team averaged 43% FT fibers. In contrast,

Karlsson et al. (1978) found that elite Swedish ski racers 'generally have no specifie predominance of either FT or ST fibers. They also noted that the percentage of muscle fiber types can not predict performance of downhill skiers at the elite level.

Tesch et al. (1978) and Thorstensson et al. (1977) ,showed that sUbjects with a high percentage of FT fibers

accumulated more lactate and demonstrate~ relatively o greater fatigue at submaximal workloads than subjects with a high percentage of ST fibers. This fatigue is related to' lactate accumulation in the FT versus ST fibers. _The depletion of each muscle fiber type has been c examined- -by several sport physiologists. It ha,s been found - that, elite skiers tend to deplete the ST and FTa oxidativ~ muscle fibers predominantly after intense skiing. Thus,.

this suggests a high aerobic demand (Nygaard et al., 1977~ 'Ericksson et al., 1977). Î

2.3.1 The 20-m ~huttle run te~t Léger and Lambert (1982) developed a 20-m shuttle run 1 (~ • 0 test to predicte Vo max. No differences were found when 2 (, , j subj ects performed the shuttle run on a hard tile surface gymnasium floor, a rubbe_r floor, or a modified Balke proto- _. . . ' col Vo2max treadm1l1 test. V02max measured directly during the last stage of the Balke treafmili test (42.65 ±

10.03) was similar (r = .914 and i.E = 4.16) to that . --measured by the retroextrapolation method used at the end of the 20-m shuttle run test. The test was found to be o sui table for testing indiyiduals or grdups on most gym~ fi nasium surfaces. The test is easy to administer as it requires only a dry, fIat "'surface and a cassette tape player. The Canadian ski team and most provincial teams are - . currently using a 2 mile run as an on-site test to predict 'aerobic capacity (Ski Canada, 1983). Léger and Lambert

(198A) noted that tests such as the 2 mile 0 run force the parth ipant to give a maximal effort from the beginning to o ";- \ ·f , . .. J" 1

34 , ..

the end of'ehe test. Resu1ts ar~ also dependent upon the

o o ath1ete' s anaerobic endurance, motivation, and running ski11. The American Co11ege of Sports Medicine (1986) recommend using progressive multi-stage exercise tests te assess aerobic power. A multi-stage test; such as the 20-m shuttle run test, does not force subj ects tq run at an even pace throughout .. ~ the tést since the pace is pre-set by audio signaIs. Thus, - the test may be more reliable and valid for assessing young ath1etes who do not use running as -a mode for training the aerobic energy system (Léger & Lambert, 1982). · .... ····F•. ~ .. " .,""" Io.-".r , . ,~

CHAP1'ER 3

Hethods

This chapter is divided into the following sections:

3. 1 SUbjects

3. 2 Treatment of the subjects

- 3 • 3 Giant slalom time trial • 3. 4 Wingate anaerobic test -- 3. 5 Hexagonal obstacle test

3. 6 High box test

3. 7 20-~ shuttle run test

3. a Five double leg jump test

3. 9 Vertical jump test

3.10 Skinfold test

3.11 Experimental design and statistical analysis

3.1 Subjects-

1 Thirty-three male subj ects _were chosen to participate in this study. The subj ects represented three levels of alpine skiing ability. Nine skiers were mem1:?ers of the Ontario provincial ski team. Fourteen divisional skiers were selected - from the National capital divisional and Laurentian zone divisional teams. The remaining 11 skiers competEi:d at the club level in the Laurentian zone for the o ,- ::' "-.":Y{iIil .~ , ,- '1 , ~ -' c ) 36 Mont Blanc Ski Club. The three groups were tl'::eated separately., Subje1i::ts

skied for t~eir respective teams for the 1986-87 season.

~ • 2 Treatment of the subj ects The giant slalom time trial took place on the day prior to the on-site testing. Seven members of the Ontario ski team did not pe_rform the giant slalom time trial sinee -they , were delayed due to a snow storm. , Physiological testing took place over two days at the end of the competitive season. Subj ects were re@ired to perform one: aerobic test (20-m shuttle run test), three

anaerobic endurance tests,• and two anaerob~c• power tests. Prior to testing, instructions for each test item were verbally delivered to the subjects and the tasks were demonstrated .. The importance of an "alI-out" effort was stressed at this time. On the f irst day, subj ects

, ' completed the high box test, the vertical--jump test and the 20-m' shuttlé run test. On the s,econd day, the five double

leg j ump test was administ~red f irst, then the hexagonal

\ obstacle test, followed by the Wingate anaerobic test. Subj ects performed two tests in the morning and the third test before supper each day of testing to allow appropriate recovery between tests. AlI tests were- done in the same '. order.

--_..-~ 3ï

• SUbJ ects were asked to, refrain from eating, d~inking , -. or smoking for two hours prior to the test due to the , nature of anaerobic testing. ,On the first visit to the lab, subjects' height, weight, and the sum of five skinfolds were recorded. Subjects were instructed to wear running shoes, a t-shirt, and shorts to the testing session. Participants also rèad and signed an informed - - 'consent form prior to testing. Verbal encouragement -was prov ided. during aIl testing by coaches, researchers,. and teammates.

3.3 Giant slalom time trial The "on-hill" performance test was a giant slalom event set by a (CSCF) Level III coach. The racers were randomly seeded. Each athlete was given three trials on the race course. The best two times were added together and

considered the perform~nce tim~. Subjects were ins~ructed to tunè their skis the evening prior to the test date. The giant slalom event was chosen to assess alpine skiing abi1ity, since it ls the event which requires the best skilng techniques and general skiing abillty (Jensen & .- Tuçker, 1972; CSCF, 1983b). There has been a trend in the 1980's among ski coaches to develop the technical skil1s of young'ski racers. Joubert (1978) notes that fine technica1 skil1s are clearly demonstrated by good giant - slalom o c 38 1 technique.

3~4 Wingate anaerobic test

This test was similar to the, 30 s' Wingate test des-

'cribed by Bar-Or et al. (1977),' The test consisted ~f a supramaximal ride on a bicycle ergometer at a set resistance for 60 s. Members of the Canadian men' s slalom / and giant slalom team are tested with a 60 s supramaximal / ride. The Canadian men' s downhill team uses a 90 s protocol. This makes the duration of these tests cl oser to

the length of the athletic event than the conventional 30 "

protocol proposed by Bar-Or et al. (1977). /

Katch and Weltman (1979) recommend using a lower resistance setting when the duration of thè test exceeds 45

seconds. Due ~o the substantially longer duration of the test (60 s), a wark load of 0.075 kp X body weight (kg) was

choseJl. Evans and Quinney (1981) recommend a resistance

setting of approximately 0.095 kp X bo,9y weight (kg) to

optimize the resistance setting in the 30 s Wingate test. Four indices were computed from the modified wingate test: peak power, mean powet" drop-off, arid percent fatigue. Peak, power, mean power, and -drop-off were also expressed in relative terms by dividing absolute scores by body mass (kg).

Mean power was calculated as fhe to~ work perfarmed " . , 39 1

in a '60 s interval.. 'l'he equation used to calculate this measure' is:

Rev x ~ ,x -2mL x Resistance(kp) x .l-=W__ __ 60s min rev 6. 12kpm/min

Anaerobie peak power was calculated as the highest

power output in any 5 s period. The interva"l wi ~he highest pedal revolutions was used for this éalculati~. The equation for this calculation is:

Rev x .2.Q.J! x ~ x ResistanceCkp) x ~l~W~~ 5 s min rev 6. 12kpm/min

Percent fatigue measures the decline in' power output

over a 60 s periode This was expressed a~ a percentage of peak power -output. The equation to calculate percent fatigue is:

Chighest 5 s output - lowest 5 s output) x 100 highest 5 s output

The drop-9ff score measures fatigue durinq the Wingate anaerobic test. This variable is calcula1;ed as the peak power" output minus the minimal power output and i8 expressed in watts. The seat height on the ergometer was calculated as a measure of the subj ect' s crotch to the floor, or full extension of the leg with the anklè at 90, deqrees (normal o flexion when the foot is on the qroUnd). Two magnets were ~ t ...... _~, ~ />, ,,\~ , , ,,', , .. ~ 1" ,<~' rI" :',-< 'It'_",.,Y',lt:i' <~ • r,'t ... ~ ":;'I,;_-,~~ " , ~ I~

"~ >

fastened ta' the a:rank of the cycle ergometer, 180 deqrees

apart. A magnetic Reed switch was attached to the frame or the cycle ergometer. The Reed switch was connected to an impulse counter, which recorded the pedal revol utions during the test. This modification to the Monark cycle ergometer has been described by Smith et al. (1982). The pedal revolutions were recorded for each 5 s period in the 60 s test. A f inger tip blood sample was drawn 5 min after cdmpletion of the Wingate test. Whole blood (25 ul) was " inj ected into a' Yellow Springs Industrial analyser (YSI-Model 27). Samples were displayed by an, analog circuit within one minute after injection. The instrument was calibrated -with 5 and 15 mmol·I- 1 lactate standards. This procedure has been found to agree with

other methods of lactate analy~is (Maughan, 198~).

3.5 Hexagonal obstacle test Th"e hexagonal obstacle test consisted of an apparatus constructed according to McGinnis et al. (1981). The apparatus was made from polyVinylchloride plastic piping.

Tb~ raiiings measured 65 cm in length ahd were installed at various heights on each' side of the hexagon. (See diagram

in Appendix A.) The hexagonal obstacLe test was perform-=:d as described

fr 41 , o by McGinnis et al. (1981). Subjects started,by standing in the" center of the hexaqon facing the sixth railing. On the command, "GO", the athletes jumped over rai1inq l'and then back into the center of the hexaqon, and quickly proceeded -to j ump around the hexagon in the, same manner. Subjects .. completed three revolutions clockwise and immediately , pJ;'oceeded t~ perform three revol~fions, counter-clockwise. The subjects were told when/,to change direction. / ' 1 Throuqhout the jumpinq test, the subject faced the 6th railinq. If the subject knocked down a rail, that' trial was not counted. Subj ects were allowed 20 minutes "of recovery time before administering another trial. The test was completed when the subj ect touched the inside of the hexagon at the end of the sixth revolution. The invest- igator counted out loud the number of revolutions completed. Jasmin et al. (1984) found that subjects continued to

improve their times for up to ~even trials on the hexagonal obstacle test, at which point a plateau .in the learninq curve was seen .. Both ,the provincial and divisional teams had been exposed to the test prior to the testing odate.

The' club skiers were qiven 10 practice t~ls on the hexagonal oQstacle test one week prior to the testinq day, '" in ord~r to minimize practice effects. o ~~.' t _ ", ,';-

42 c. . 3.6 High box test The high box apparatus consisted of a plywqod box 40 cm

fi by 60 cm long by 51 cm -wide. On the conunand "GO", the

b subjects jumped off the box to one side, then back onto ,the , ;

l) box and t,hen off i t to the other side, repeatedly. The ,subjects continued to jump using bath feet, back and forth for 90 s with the goal being to complete as l;Uany jumps as possible in that time periode Subjects were informed not

to pace themselves . The test~ procedures were identical to

those used by McGinnis et al. (1981). \ 1 The researcher recorded the number of times the subject -\ touched the top of the box with bath feet in a 90 s time '-

periode only one trial was administered to each ~ubj ect. , Verbal encouragement was given throughout the t~st by 1 teammates and coaches. Since both divisional and prov,inci~l teams had been exposed to the test prior to the testing date, the club ski ers were given two practice trials on thJ- high box one o week prior to the actual testing day to minimize practice effects. It was fel t that two practice trials woulcl be

s~f f ic ient s ince the test requires more gross motor movements and less skill than the hexagonal obstacle test. Blood was drawn f ive minutes after the" high box test - with a lancet pricking the finger. The blood was immediately analysed for lactate using' the Yellow Springs blood c .... ~. ,( .- ..." ~!~ --

• làctate analyser.

3~7 20-m shuttle run test - / A 20 -m . distance was marked gymnasium floor wi th masking tape. Subj ects started out at a pa'ce of 80 5 kmoh- 1 and increased by increments 'of 005 kmoh- 1 / every m'inute. The' pace" was set by taped audio signaIs from a calibrated' tape \ recorder. Subjects tere instructed' 1:~ complete as many stages as possible. Time was announced on the- tape every 30 s of the 1 min work interval to help ,the - sUbject gauge the time. , The test was terminat~d when ~he subject was unab}e to fpllow the pace of the audio pulse (i. e. 3 m behind the

J 20-m line at the sound of the audio pulse). Two indices

were calculated' from this t~st: the total time comp~eted, • and ~he predicted vo2max bas~d on the last workload completedo

3.8 Five double leq jump test - , , . . From a standinq. positiion on,a line, subjects performed a series of five consecutive double leg jumps. The athlètes were allowed to sw.i.ng their arms to help in

~ generating momentum and in improving bal~nce. subjects were allowed to practice the skill five times prior to the

actuai test. The test score was deterrnined as the ~imal , . o , , . «, 44

distance covered over the five consecutive jumps. 'The êJ • distance was measured ta the nearest -centimeter. Each skier was given three trials; the best of the three tfials ~ was recorded as the score.

3.9 Vertical jump test From a standing position, the subjects stood , perpendicular to the wall with the right arm fully extended overhead. This distance was measured and recorded as the

sub.j ect~ reaching heigh~. Chalk was appl ied to the subj ects' fingers to leave a mark on a chalkboard affixed to the wall.. SUDjects were then instructed, to squat down and explosively jump up and touch the chë'ilk board at the peak of-theii jump. Each subject was qiven three trials. The best of three trials was used to calculate the vertical jump score, which was the difference between the jump • height and the reach height.

3.10 'Skinfold test

Skinfold thickness was measured with .a. John Bull skinfol

Skinfold measurements were taken at th~ following sites: subscapula, suprailiac, alliominal, frontal thigh, • and medial calf (Ski Cànada, ~1983)." Thé subscapula . -. ( tp , • ~

#. -'~;) '- l; / ", J '1::" ";':-1;' "~~,'~ ,.~~ .. ~ ;; , , , 'fi

45 ~

, skinfold site was taken at the inferior angle of the right scapu,la on the diagonal plane, 45 degrees from horizontal, laterally downward. The suprailiac site was taken above the crest of the right ilium. The abdominal site was taken to the "left of, and adjacent ,to the navel. The frontal thigh fold was taken> with the subj~cts in, a seated po~;i tion, midway on the front of the right upper leg, The fold

was 1 ifted parallel to the long axis - of the leg. The

medial calf fold was lifted parallel I:lto the long• axis of the leg in the middle of the belly of the muscle.

3.11 Experimenta1 design and statistical analysis

- Means and standard errors of estimate were used to report the characteristics of the S~bject~ and each variable in the test battery. One-way analysis of variance was used to compare differences among three levels of ski ers for each test variable. The one-way ANOVA resul ts

allowed hypotheses 1.3.1 to be examined. Post hoc analysis to determine the location of significant' dift'erences was..

done using Newman- Keuls formula (Minium, 1978). Pearson Product-Moment correlation coefficients were

calculated between the test variables. A 10 x...J 10 G::orre- lation matrix was computed to examine the relationship among each of the following variables: peak power, mean power, lactate after the Wingate test, hexagonal obstacle o ,.(, 11,,' .... -r - l' - -,~ \ l, ,- r', ,- -';' "'~, - '-'. , -~ _.~. , :~"~',",J , ,~ , , " , 46 test, high box test, lactate after the' hiqh box, five double leg jumps, vertical jump, 20-m shuttle' run, and the giant slalom time trial.

.. o ~ i· , .. "...... , "{", , . ~" \. . ..., .,. ~ .".. . _.. - ' , •

R~sults '"

Thi s chapter has been di vided'" into the fallowing

tsections: ~ 4.1 Descriptive data 4.2 Wingate anaerobic test

4."3 On-site testso 4.4 20-m shuttle run test 4.5 Giant slalom time trial 4.6 Coefficients of variation 4.7 Co+relational analysis

4.1 Descriptive data Descriptive data for three levels of alpine skiers are' presented in Table 4.1. The club ski ers were younger (14.1

yrs) than the divisional ski ers (15.7 yrs) , who i~ turn were younger than the provincial racers (16.4 yrs). The provincial skiers were heaviest (70.0 kg), while the divisional and club racers weighed 68.8 kg and 57.9 kg, respectively . Based on the sum of five skinfolds, the club racers were fatter (63.2 mm) than either the provincial or

divis~onal teams (48.5 mm and 50.3 mm, respectively). o -T.,."'r~~ ~.,~f.""~'. ;i:~ .' , ~3 , <: e ~ ",

,.r -',

,J .

Table 4.1

Physical characteristics (X ± R.D.) of club (n=ll), divisi'onal (n=14) and provincial

(n=9) s:ki racers

Variable Club Pivisional Provincial F Ratio'Prob.

Age (yrs) 14.1,+ 1.7 15.7 ± 1.7 16.4 ± 0.9 9.07 0.01 Height (cm) 167.8 + 10.7 178.4 ± 3.8 174.9 ± 4.4 7.11 0.01

Mass (kg) 57.9 + 8.3 68~8 ± 5.4 70.0 ± 5.3 5.13 0.01

Sum of 5'skinfolds (mm) ~3.2 + 14.5 50.3 ± 9.3 48.5 ± 12.0 4.66 0.02 .,

.~~ , "

'o' \ .

".i .. ~ -, '

" ~ ~ (X)

. '\ -i

.>~;.l " ~.J,.,~"". ,.~ 49

, .,, • 4.2 Winqate anaerobic test t ,f ~ Results of the Wingate test are- presented ,in Table 1 4.2. Divisional (836.3 W) and provincial (798.1 W) racers demonstrated siqnificantly higher peak power outputs than

the club racers (62~.4 W). When the scores were expressed relat.ive to body weight, there were no significant differences (p = .07) among the three levels of racers. f Both mean power and mean power/kg body weight for the 60 s Wingate test were highest for the divisional racers. • (c Mean power output was 507.8 W for the divisional skiers, 486.3 W for the provincial skiers, and 389.8 W for the club skiers. When expressed relative to body weight, mean power output was 7.4, 6.7, and 6.6 respectively.

Percent fati~e was similar for the three groups. When drop-off was expressed in terms of absolute power decrement -" '\ and W/kg, the differences were not significant. The power ~ outputs for each 5 s period of the' 60 s Wingate test are graphed in Figure 4.1. Lactate values 5 min after ,completion of "the Wingate . test were highest for the proyincial skiers (18.8 mmol·l- 1 ), followed by the divisional (14.4

mmol·1-1 ) and the club racers (12~4 mmol·1-1 ). o , . , o e

>-','

, '\ Table 4.2' il -! Wingate anaerobic test. (X + S.E.) for the club (n=ll), divisional (n=14) and ,- / provincial (n=9), skiers

Variable Club Divisional Provincial F Ratio Probe .-.

ft " Peak power (W) 621.4 + 70.3 836.3 + 27.3 798.1.. + 25.9 5.1~ ,0.01 'Peak power/kg (W) 10.5 + 0.4 12.2 ± 0.5 Il.4 ± 0.3 2.90 0.07 . , ~ Mean power-60s (W) 389.8 ± 37.2 507.8 ± 9.6 486.3 + 10.3 6.86 o.oi ~ , , Mean power/kg (W) 6.6 + 0.1 7.4 ± 0.1 6.7 ± 0.1 6.29 0.01 Percent fatigue 67.5 ± 4.1 64.3 ± 1.7 66.3 ± 1.8 0.38 0.69 , Drop-off (W) 345.6 + 37.5 520.9 ± 45.3 511.9 ± 56.6 1.79 0.18

Drop-off/kg (W) 11.6 + 0.6 12.9 + 0.6 13.0 ± 1. 2 0.60 0.55 ' ''': " Lactate (mmol-l-1 ) 12.4 + 0.5 ],.4.4 ± 0.5 18.8 ± 0.8 23.07 0.01

-'";. ua . ' o

M ;:' ~ ~ "t~~~ ''''- .. , c _ -;:,_"'-----" .. _ .....""';:!3[.~ '" ~<~C;'!! o .,.~

t ~

850

--- CLUB. -+- DlvlSlonal ~ PROVINOAL, Power (watts)

650

li>

450

250 1 5 10 15 ,20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60

o ~ Time (s) 1:\

Ut .... \ - Figure 4.1 Power outputs during the 60 s Wingate test ,-

.. ~ ... "-!>,~ 52

4.3 On-site tests' The results of the on-site tests are presented in Table 4.3. Provincial racers performed the most jumps (93.6) on

1 the 90 s high box test, while the divisional racers were lower (85.3). The club racers averaged 56.2 jumps in 90 s

which was significantly (p

blood lactate after the' high box test (19.8 mmol·l-1 )

than the divisional team (13.8 mmol·l-1 ) who were significantly higher than the club team (10.0 mmol·l-1) .

Both the provincial and divisional teams had higher test scores on the hexagonal obstacle test than the club racers. The provincial and divisional racers recorded times

of 34.3 and 36.4 seconds respectively, while the club

racers were significantly slower (54.7 s). Th~ provincial and divisional racers recorded vertical jumps of 54.4 cm and 53.4 cm, respectively, while the club racers averaged

significantly lower jumps (44.7 cm)., oivisional and provincial skiers had identical scores

for the five double 1eg jump test (13.1 m). Both of these teams had mean scores which were significantly (p

f Table 4.3

Results (X + S.E.) for the high box, hexagonal obstacle, vertical jump and five double leq jump tests for club (n=!i), divisional (n=!4) and provincial (n=9) skiers.

Vari~ble Club oivisional. Provincial F Ratio Probe :

Rigb box (jUllps/90s) 56.2 + 3.2 85.3 + 3.3 93.6 + 2.2 35.20 0.01

0 ~ Rigil box Lact (..01-1 ) 10.0 + 0.7 13.8 + 0.8 19.8 + 0.7 35.81 '0.01

Hexagona1 obstac1e (s) 54.7\ + 3.6 36.4 + 1.1 34 .. 3 + 0.9 23.65 0.01

vertica1 ju.p (CIl) 44.7 + 1.8 53.4 + 1.8 54.4 ± 2.2 7.03 0.01

pive doub1e 1eg jUllp (.) 10.8 + 0.4 13.1 + 0.2 13.1 + 0.2 19.58 0.01

Ut w'

-e ~.-,-~fL~-.;~ t,~:::, , , ,1 flj \~ , 1 54 C· o ' 4.4 20-. shuttle test Results for the 20-m shuttle run test are presented' in

Table 4.4. The provincial ski ers ran t;he lonqest n durinq the 20-m snuttle run test (11.2 min) compared to the

divisional (10.6 min) and club (8. 3 m~n) skiers. When

vo 2max was predicted from the performance time, the provincial and divisional skiers had siqnificantly higher aerobic fitness than the club skiers.

)

1 J 4 -

'i" , ~%~1~'t.ft.-t~'·~'i\~'...... ______~ __~ ___ ~-- '1~." " -"-"_-~~ o ~ •

Table 4.4 c. , Res9lts for-the 20-m shuttle test- (X + S.E.)' for the club (n=ll), divisional (n=14) and provincial (n=9) skiers

\ Variable Club Divisional Provincial F Ratio 1 Probe ...

Time- (min) 8:3 + 0.6 10.6 ± 0.3 11.2 ± o~. 3 12.65 0.01

vozmax• (ml/kg.min) 50.2 + 1.5 54.8 ± 0.8 55.6 ± 0.8 6.15 0.01

l':

o .J

,if U'I yt ,. "!'

~ ,_ .... , ,. ~. ~ ••• j·L ' .. 0 , •• 1 .~_";?~

',! '? , 56

4.5 l ~iant slalom time trial

Giant slalom time trial resul ts are presented in Table

/ ~ .5. The maj ority of the provincial .ski team were unable

to /participate in the giant slalom time trial since they

ere delayed by a snow storm on the test day. The two

members of the provincial and the entire divisional team

/ ave'Faged similar times of 101.9 and 104.7 seç:onds

respecti vely. Analysis (t-test)' revealed that, the club \ Q ski ers were significantly (p

of 118.9 seconds.

Table 4.5

~ts (X ± S.E.) for the giant slalan tiJœ trial for

club, divisianal, am pravirci.al Skiers.

Group n n Tilne'1! Trial Provincial chanpionship

Club Il 118.94 ± 1.8* ~. Divisional 14 104.73 ± 0 .. 9* 7 133.74 ± 0.39 *~ \ - Provincial 2 101.92 ± 1.5 6 131.57 ± 0.50 **

t-value * t = -8.91 ** t = -2.69

prOb p<.01 1) ~.05

~ , t_

." ~",,' ~ ..\~:'

" 57 " ,;: ".. """ . . •. ,- . '~~ 6 Coefficients' of variation \ The coefficients of variatiob of the on-site tésts are" presented in Table 4.6. These data" indicated that s'ubjects

were very homogeneous in skiing abillty 1 Vo2max and in " . performance on the jumping tests: Subjects were more o hetrogeneous in the,Wingate anaerobic test. The provincial ski ers demonstrated greater homogeneity than the divisional

\ and club skiers in aIl on-site test scores, but two. The; , divisional skie!s demonstrated greater homogeneity than the Qlub racers in aIl but three'on-site tests.

1 J">

("o· •

, ,-

:' ' ~", . ... "'1 :', ,", l' • .'~,.. J, '.t.. :"lçtl,~, ". ';.. ~.. ~ l J.: ~-J f",~.!.:r~ f.~/~1 r~ ~ 2,~ .."!L'"':.,"'\.' t~·~ : ... ,.- Or' , .-.' ' 7 ~ ~

58 " 0 '( " C ,J Table 4.6 Coefficients of variation" of on-site tests A-

,Club oivisional Provincial t- ,0 Jumping tests Hexagonal obstacle 20.8% 10.9% 7 .. 4%

Five double, leg jumps 11. 7% 5.5% 4.3% '\ ... Vertical jump 12.7% 12.2% 11.4% • High box 18.0% 13 .~9% 9.7% High box lactate 22.1% 20.9% 10.0%

/ Wingate anaerobic test ,

Peak power 35.8% 11.8% D 35.8% !I.-

1 Peak power/kg 12.0 14.8% 7.4% ( Mean power 30.2% 6.8% 6.0%

Mean power/kg 4.8% 4.9% 0 4.2% Percent fatigue 19.2% 9 . .0% . 7.7% "-. Drop-off 34.4% 31.4% 31.3% ~ D'rop-off/kg 16.4% 16.8% 26.1% Blood lactate 12.8% 12.3%, 12.0% -, 20-m Shuttle run \ Time 22.1% 10.2% 7.6% • V02max 9.4% 10.6% 4.1% .. Giant slalom time trial Time.. 4.8% 3.1% 0.6%* , Results from provincial cha1Dpionship ,. * "'- '~ ~ q

~ï ..• L ... 59

4.7 Correlational analysis Table 4.7 shows the correlati..on matrix for "the perfor- . mance variables with a sample size of 33 subjeots. The sample size for the correlation with the giant slalom time

trial was only 26. subj ects due' to missirig data: Each varl.ableg. in the 10 x 10 matrix ,was significant (p

(

.' , ~ ': '-~)'~ " - ; • 60 ~

GSST pp HP Win Hex HB liB- 20-m 5-jurrp ra ra

Peak power -.66

Mean power -.73 .91 - WiIçate-Ia -.53 .37 .37

Hexagon .82 -.57 -.72 -.49

High box -.80 .41 .52 .58 -.77

Hb-Ia -.67 .44 .49 .69 -.62 .67

, 20-m shuttle -.63 .,56 .69- .37 -.80 .72 .53

Five jUJ1t:lS -.86 .64 .75 .43 -.84 .72 .54 .75 () vertical j Ull'p -.57 .56 .60 .58 -.61 .57 .41 .46 .74

(Critical values r = .31 with n = 33, am r = .34 with n = 26) •

•:t< .. ~ """ " ~ ",1-,"" " "'i" -"/ ;-"" ","~" " -""" ",..,."\"!""

• CHAPl'ER 5 '" " " l

Discussion

The following sections will be included in thls chapter: 5.1 Caliber of the subjects 5.2 Jumping tests 5.21 Hexagonal obstacle test 5.22 High box test .. 5.23 Five double leg jump test 5.24 vertical j.ump test 5.3 Wingate anaerobic test 5.4 Post exercise blood lactates 5.5 20-m shuttle run test

5. 1" Caliber of the subj ecta , Club skiers generally showed significantly lower scores

on the test battery compared to divil?ion~l skiers. The. divisionaJ. team for each area was selected from the best cl ub skie'rs in that region. At the divisionaln1level, .' skiers tend to train at higher intensities and for longer durations. The divisional ski ers in the present study were followtng individually-designed training programs based on their results of physiological testing. o l'

The club skiers were younger than the divisional and ( provincial level athletes. In general, club coaches do not have their athletes following a regular dryland training \ : : program. In this study, the club ski ers were fatter and : generally had lower scores on fitness variables than the

- othero two teams. On Most tests, there were no significant differences between the divisional and provincial skiers. Several studies in the literature have compared different levels of racers on laboratory and field tests. Brown and Wilkinson (1983) compared the physiological characteristics of 10

national team skiers (age 21.9 years), 10 divisional racers

(age 1.8.6 years) and 22 club racers (age 1.7.1 years). The divisional and club racers in Brown and Wilkinson' s sample were ,older than the divisional and club subj ects 'in the present study. Thus, when comparing test results between 'the present study and that of Brown _ and Wilkinson, omaturational differences may confound the compari.son.

Jasmin et al. (1984) used 10 varsity ski team members o (age 21..2 years), 1.0 varsity athletes (age 22.5 years) and

1.5 physical education students (age 23.2 years) to evaluate the validity of the hexagonal obstacle test. McGinnis et

al. (1.981) compared 11 nat~onal team members, 74 na,tional , development team members, 27 junior racers and 64 university (beqinner to advanced level) recreational ·1·' -~ - ~;: r '1 '

\ • skiers. In Canada, the divisional and provincial level skiers compete in Many of the same competitions., Both levels \ follow similar dryland training programs. However, the provincial level athletes do more skiinq during the- off-season, typically in Europe. Thus, i t was not • surprising that significant differences were not found between these two groups on Many of the tests.

Most of the provincial ra'cers were 1 unable to complete the giant slalom time trial that had been 'scheduled during

data collection. AlI of the divisional skiers completed this event. To compare the performance of the divisional and provincial skiers, resul ts were examined from a race where Many of these ski ers competed. This race was the ontario provincfal championship which took place in March 1987. six of the nine provincial racers in this study and 7 'of the 14 divisional racers competed in this giant slalom raoe. The average combined time of the provincial racers was faster (131. 57 s) than the Mean time of the divisional racers (133.74 s). It is ,unlikely that this small " di fference of 2.16, s could be attributed to fitness

leveis. In contrast, the difference between the divisional and club racers in the present study was 1,4 s on the giant slalom time trial. o

.. .. 64 c 5.2 Jumping tests The strongest relationships (ranginq from r::; -.80 to

r = -.86) with giant slalom skiing performance were found with the skiing-specific jumping test scores (hexagonal obstacle test, the high box test and the five double leg jump test). The movements used in these tests are similar to those used in alpine skiing. Compared to other tests in the battery, the vertical jump test demonstrated one of the 1 lowest relationships (r = -.57) wi th giant slalom performance.

5.21 Hexagonal obstacle test Hexagonal obstacle test scores were strongly correlated Cr = .82) with skiing performance. The jumping movements over the obstacles are similar to those used in parallel alpine skiing: subjects were r..equired to displace their feet from under their ceJ1.ter of mass while keepinq the upper body erect.

Jasmin et al. (1987) concluded that the hexagonal obstacle test was not measuring leg strength or flex-

ibility. They also found low drop-off scores (20%) in the hexagonal obstacle test (six revolutions). They reported ilon-significant correlations for the hexagonal obstacle

test with both an anaerobic treadmill test and mean power o

/ on the Wi~gate test. Hence, they conc_l uded thàt the "-1,. _. 1-1;'",·';"- . '" \ .. \- i ..- ,.... "l, ,J-" , - ,

hexagonal obstacle fest was not measuring anaerobic endurance and was a non-specifie test for alpine skiers. The present study, however, reports contrary findings with significant (p<. 01) correlations wi th both peak power

(r = -.57) and mean power (r = -.72) for the hexagonal obstacle,test (six revolutions). o The contrary findings May be related to the the ability of the skiers. It should be noted that Jasmin et al.'

(1987) used members of a varsity ski ~team as their skiing 4

subj ect~. Their subj ects averaged only 45.0 .• g on the } hexagonal obstacle test involving six revolutions without a~ change of direction. While the present study found provincial and divisional skiers could complete six revolutions of the hexagonal obstacle in a faster time

( 3 4 . 3 and ',;3 6.4 seconds, respectively) , wi th a change of

" 1 direction after three revolutions. It is possible that if Jasmin et al. (1987) had used a higher.. caliber of skier, they may have found the hexagonal obstacle test could discriminate between their varsity athletes and alpine ski racers. McGinnis et al. (1981) found that the hexagonal obstacle test did discriminate between skilled and recreational skiers, but it could not identify exceptionally

skilled racers. The present study found a similar trend. The club racers had significantly iower scores than the

o ,c

... "' ...... ! ' ~, ",- .,, , , \ , .. ,{

66 1 cC> ('.,. divisional 'athletes, yet there were no significant differences between the divisional and provincial skiers. Jasmin et al. (1987) sU9gested that since the hexagonal obstacle test is not measuring anaerobic endurance, it is probably measurinq agility. It is {possible that skiing at

the divisional or ~rovincial level requires a certain level of agility which is beinq measured by this test.

5.22 H1gh box test 1 The high box test was designed to measure anaerobic endurance and agility, specifically for alpine ski racers. The high box test was significantly correlated with giant

slalom times (r = -.80). Correlations with mean power on the Wingate test and giant slalom skiing .performance were t1 not tS strong Cr = -.73). The jumping movements of the high box' test are similar to those of alpine skiing.

Vandewalle, Pérès, and Mono ~1987) and Simoneau, Lortie, Boulay, and Bouchard (1983 indicated that a test should last between 90 and 120 s exhaust the anaerobic energy stores. The high box this criteria. The correlation bètween mean" power on the Wingate

anaerobic test and the hi~ box test seo, Cr = -.5.2) was significant. (p<.01). Andersen and Mo1tgomery (1987) reported a significant (p<. 05) correlation (r = .71) between high box scores and mean power on the 30 s Wingate ,." 1""" - , ...... "

• test. Brown and Wilkinson (1983), also' found a signiflcant . - (p<.Ol) correlation (r = .58) when comparinq thè results of

an anaerobic treadmill test (Cunningham & Faulkner, ,1969}

with the high box results (r = .58). Peak lactate values following the high box. test were significantly (p<. 01) correlated (r = -.67) 'with giant slalom performance. This was a stronger relationship than . ~ the relationship between peak lactate after the Wingate test (r = -.53). Average' peak lactate values after the

Wingate test and high box test were sim~ar for provincial

(18.8 and 19.8 mmol, respectively), divisional (14.4 and - 13.8, res-pectively), and club skiers' (12.4 and 10.0 tnmol, r> respectively). There was a significant (p<.Ol) correlation

(r = .69) between lactate values after the Wingate test and after the high box iest.

Anders,en and Montgomery (1987) found t;hat divisional racers averaged 85 jumps in the pre-season and 9,2 jumps at the beginning of the c~petitive season. Brown and

1 wilkinson (1983) reported national "-team members averaged 87 jumps, divisional 92 and club racers 8? jumps. McGinnis et

al. (1~81), reported values of 88 jumps for members. of the

un~ted States menl~ ski t~am. They also found t~at junior racers averaged 77 j umps on the high box test. The provincial and divisional racers in the present study

compare fa~ourably with other elite skiers in the o 68

literature. However, the club racers demonstrated

substant~ally ,low,pr scores compared to,' club racers reported

in the 1 i terature (Brown & Wilkinson, 1983: Me'Ginnis et

al., 1981).

5.23 Five double leq jump test ')

The fi ve double 1eg j ump test has .recent1y b~en adopted by the Canadian ski team.' The prè'sent study found the five double 1eg jump test to have the strongest correlation , . (r = -.86) with skiing performance, compared to aIl the

other ~ests in the ba~tery.

The provincial and divisional racers averaged 13.1 m

which was 'significantly longer than the club racers (10.8

m) . In a recent fie1d- test session with the canadlan men 1 s

alpine ski team, Balyi ,(1987) reported that males on the

Canadian national ski team averaged 14.1 m, with the top performance being 1S. 9' m. This is 1.6 m longer than the "" best provincial racer's score.

None of the skiers had been expos~d to the test prior this investigation. After seven practise trials, aIl subjects felt comfortable with the task .. The task measures dynamic balance and leg power. When the five double leg jump t't was correlated with the hexagonal obstacle test, a strong signif icant (p<. Ôl) relationship was found--- (r=-.84).

r" t. , b~,;, .. .., "j''' .. .J_ .. • ••••• ;. \"j ,

69 ·0 , 5.24 Vertical jump test The vert l"cal jump test was siqnificantly_ (p<. 01)

_related to giant slalom skiinq performance (r = -.57). This correlation was not as str:ong as _ the other three , jumping tests. The test does not simulate the movements in alpine ski racing as closely as db the other three jumping tests.

Haymes and Dickinson (11978) reported no siqnificant differences in vertical jump performance from the start Df . the on-snow training to the end of the competitive season

for members o~ the United states women's ski team.

The provincial 1 and divisional sk~ers demonstrated

~ t similar (54.4 and 53.4 cm, respectively) performances in the vertical jump' test, compared to other studies in' the

literature. Brown and Wilkinson (1983) reported similar scores for the Canadian national team and a divisional' team

(54.2 and 52.2 cm, respéctively), while they found that a

group of club racers averaged 48 .. 3 cm. In tltis study, the club racers' averaged sj"gnificantly lower (p<.Ol) jump he igh t s ( 4 4 . 7 om) c ompared to the other two teams.

McGinnis et al. (1981) found that 13 to 14 year old male

ski racers averaged 39 cm,

is lower than the club racers in the present study .. The 15

to 16 year old ag~ group demonstrated similar performances.

(54.1 cm) compared to the divisional and provincial skiers o

J. .... : ";"r - .,. J • '"( 1,,;' ., 't":/, ,.,:~~ " e "" " L ,

in the pr~sent study. "

5.3 Wingate anaerobic test

When comparing the results of the Wingateo test with previous reports, caution must be exercised. Lavoie et al.

(1984) have reported that power outputs could be maximized by \1til:riing a resistance setting of 0.099 kp/kg body wejA.iht. This 'value is similar to ~he settings recommended

1by Evans ana Quinney (1981) (0.096 kp/kg body weight) and

Smith et al. (1982) (0.099 kp/kg body weight). These settings are significantly higher than the original (0.075 . - ,kp/kg body weight) suggestion of Bar-Q'r et al. (1977). This investigation utilized a resisitance. setting of 0.075. kp/kg body wE7ight which is the same as the Wingate

resistance setting. Katch and WeI tman ( 1979) recommended a

lower resistance setting for longer tests. Fôr a

continuous test of 90 s duration, Simoneau et al. (1"983) used a braking force of 0.05 kp/kg body weight. The results of the peak power in the present study are compared to other investigations using the Wingate resis-

tance setting in T~ble 5.1. Andersen and Montgomery (1987)

reported a peak power 'output of 13.6 W· kg- 1 for divisional racers. Baly! (1987) obtained average peak i· power outputs of Il.6 W" kg-1 for members of the Canadian

mens alpine ski t~am. GambIe (1986) obtained peak power J

, ,1 , ..;'"

,, 71 ~ .. , ' o 1 ., " "

. , ., 'nlble 5.1 . A oœpari.sa:l of peak pŒIi!IE!r fra;Il'varials sbXlies ~ a cycle mqcmeter , test with the Wbçate resist:arDe

.# Ievel ~. ~ Refeceiloe "" / (W/kI})

.JI

"- canadian team 923' c 11.6 -"'Ba1yi (1987) ~ .0 , oivisional racers 8~O 13.6 An:iersen & ~ (1987) ... oivisional racers 836 12.~ ~stu:ly

Prcvm::iaJ. rac:ersr- 798 11.4 ~stu:ly • -) '- Club racersr 621 10.7 Present stu:ly

V~ity hoc.1œy 951 11.4 Gamble ('1986) • P.E. students 745 10.1 Gamble (1986) , 1

. Active subjec:ts 918 11.8 (1~82) 0 Ka~ et al . Recreational hockey 771 ,10.3 Chanay et al. (1982) .;runiOli hockey 578 7.2 lbltgaœry (;1.982) -

o ~

, .,

,~ , a' .. (l ... . , ' .

. ,;; . .' " 0 . ' . 0' c ~ " • 1 •

,; ~) ,<.

~ " ~.. f.~;L'_~. .. ,'\( .:,. ~ ..:.' ,. 1tl .\. • , .... './.. ' .. 7 •.•. , • .t'o. -~ \ .. : \./.,

outputs of 11_.4 W"k9- 1 and 10.1 t-rkg-l for varsity

hock~y players and physical education students res-

pectively. Kaczkowski et al. (1982) repat:ted a peak power 1 output of 11.8 W'kg- for active subjects, In th~ 0

present study, '> peak power of 12.2 and 11. 4 W'kg-1 were

found for the divisional and~ provincial racers, respectively. This is in the range of other competitive anaerobie-type athletes. ' It is possible that peak power outputs eould be lower wj~n ~athletes are performing a 60" s , ~ingate test, si~cè t~ may unknowingly h'Old back slightly due to the substantially longer nature af the test. 'I!-he' club racers peak power (10.5 W'kg-1 )' were similar to the resul ts reported for physical education students by

Gambie (1986) and recreational hackey (Chomay, ~mel;'y,

Hoshizaki, & Brayne, 1982).

Stark et al. (1987) found that, national team slalom 6kiers demonstrated signifieantly higher peak power outputs than did national team downhillers. They feel that this . trend reflects the nature of eaeh event. This study found peak power to be significantly (p<; Dl) related to giant

slalom skiing times (r = -.66) • It is difficul.t to compare the me an power outputs with

those . in the literature since differ~nt' resistance s'ettinqs

and. test durations are reported. These ~variables are now \ 1 beinq manipùlated ta simulate the specificity of the c

), , .

73 o exercise the athlete is participating in. ,The Canadian

, ~ dow,nhill team has used a 90 s protocol to assess aerobic endurance. Balyi (1987) found an average mean , , power output Qf 646 W for the national slalom and giant

, " slalom teams on. a 60 s test. This resul t is higher than the average results of the divisional and provincial racers

of t~is study (508 and 486 W, respectively). National team members sti11 had higher power outputs when scores were expressed relative to body we'ight' (8.1 W·kg-1 ) compared to the divisional, provincial, and club skiers (7.4, 6.7,

~ 6.6 W·kg-1 , respectively).

Stark et al. (1987) reported that contrary to peak power, elite \downhill skiers had higher mean po~er outputs than did elite slalom skiers. The authors attributed, this findirig to the longer duration of the downhill event.

The pr~sent study fo-und that mean power was

signif i_cantly (p<. 01) correlated (r = -.73) with giant

slalom performance. Song ,( 1982) also reported that downhi Il performance was significantly (p<. 05) correlated , J • (r = -.63) with mean powe,r on the Wingate 'test.

5.4 Post-exercise blood lactate Blood lactate levels are, commonly being used in both laboratory and field tests to assess the involvement of

anaerobic metabolism during exercise (Jacobs, 1986). Blood o 74

lactate concentration• is assumed to be related to anaerobic0 endurance. Peak blood lactate concentrations can be • 0 increased,with appropriate training (Cunningham & Faulkner, 1969; Jacobs, 1986) Coggan and Costill (1984) examined the coefficient of a ' variation in post-exercise blood lactate. The coefficient of variation was 11 and" 13% for a 30 and 60 s cycle ergometer test, respectively. The provincial, divisional, and club racers_ in the present study demonstrated similar variation in post-exercise ,blood lactate levels (12.0%, 12.3%, and 12.8%, respectively), after a 60 s_Wingate test. . , Ericksson et al. (197~) found that competïtive skiers demonstrated higher blood lactate levels after anaerobic - laboratory testing compared to advanced and novice ski ers . The resul ts of the present study agree wi th, these , findings. Provincial skiers had significantly higher (P<.01) blood lactates (18.8 mmol), compared to the divisional skiers (14.4 Mmol) who were significantly hlgher than the club skiers (12.4 mmol).' While it true that blood lactate levels were signif icantly different between the three groups of skiers, care must exercised when interpreting these data. Inbar and

Bar-Or (1986) reported muscle lactate concentrations of 17 mmol·kg- 1 in acti"ve young adults and only Il mmolOkg:-1 in young boys (13.5 to 14.5- years). They c ""1;:';'"

75 o hypothesized that this could be ~ue to the lower levels of the rate·-limiting enzyme phosphofructokinase in children and adolescents than in young adults.

5.5 The 20-m shuttleo run test • Lege~ and Lambert (1982) reported an average V02max between 50.2 and 49.6 ml/kg.min for children between 13 and 17 years of- -age. The club racers in- the present study

demonstrated similar (50.2 ml/kg. min) aerob~c power, while the divisional and provincial skiers disp-Iayed higher

values (54.8 and 55.6 ml/kg.min, respectively). Both the divisional and provincial teams followed structui'ed team runs two to four times ,per week, while the club racers had no such routine. This regular training program may' account for the higher average vo~max values of the divisional and provincial teams. . ,

Several studies have shown that vo 2max i~ males, when express'ed in relative terms (ml/kg·min), remain,s

yirtually unchanged between years 8 to 18 (Astrand, 1952; Shephard, Allen, and" Bar-Or, 1969). Thus, the differences .' in aerobic capacity seen in the present study are probably

"ù due to higher aerobic fitness levels and not maturational differences. • The predicted Vo2max of aIl three levels of ski racer. '. are wi thin the lower range of scores for ski ers reported in o ,,,-' ,

.. ., 76 c - the literature. o-nly one .study reported a. lower average

Vo 2max (49.1 mlÎkCJ ·min) for male var·sity racers (Haymes & Dickinson, 1980b). Mean values as high as 67.1 ml/kg"min have been reported for members of the United

states ski team (Haymes & 'Dickinson, 1980a). Table 5.1 • cites comparative Vo2max data from the literature.

The Canadian ski tea~~àve minimal (50 ml/kg· min)

standards which each team member must meet. However 1 the national team recognizes the need for a high aerobic

capaci ty. Accordinq to team standards 1 62 ml/kg· min is considered" desirable while 66 ml/kg·min is ideal for weIl conditioned ski racers (Ski Canada, 1983).

,..1

Si'.:::_";;i'"iII'rllïf' ______"""'", _. ~ .... ", ~ , " -

• ,', Table 5.2 '.

ml.Jlcg • min

Irqemar sternnark 70.0 Astrani am Rodahl (1.977) u.s. ski team 65.5 Haymes arxl Dickinson (198Qa) J JUnior racers 65.0 SOn;} (1.982)

SWedish ski team 63.8 Rusko et al. (1978)

canadian ski team 63.1 Brown an:! Wilkinson (1983)

Club ski raœ.rs 61.6 ~ an:! ~i1kinson (1983) oivisional raCérS 60.2 .Arrlersen am MontganeJ:y (1987)

JUnior ski racers 60.1 Mackova et al. (1982)

Provincial racers 55.6 Present smiy

oivisional racetf 54.8 Present smiy

~ ltalian ski team 52.4 Veicsteinas et al. (1.984) , a Club racers 50.2 Present smiy

varsity ski racers 49.1 Haymes am Dickinson (1980b}

\ \ ", .... .,~

. 78

CHAPTER 6

summary, Conclusions 'and Recommendations

, "

6.1 S~ry The purpose of this investigation was to develop an on-si te test battery to allow coaches to evaluate

~ . physiological variables of alpine ski racers. The test battery consisted of a 20-m shuttle run test, four jumping • • tests and a modified Wingate test. Each test evaluated a component of fitness that prior studies, have found tb be important for alpine ski racers. The subjects in this study were 34 males from club,

divisional and provincial ski teams. S~bj ects performed each of the on-site tests. In addition, aIl members of the divisional and club teams performed a giant slalom time t-rial. The first hypothesis of thè study stated that there would he a statistical:J.y significant correlation' between the on-site test scores and performance on the giant slalom time trial. The Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients produced r values ranging frqm -.:53 to -.86 (p<.Ol). . The five double leg jump test, the hexagonal, obstacle and the high box test. produced the strongest correlations with the giant' slalom performance (r = -.86, c

, \ ....', .. " ' t \ \. ; , ~ - " .,...., \ -- 1 \-- ~- -ç -:.., ---- \ --- < r~ -~ J~~ ~~-j~(~~

"~2'" o 1 79 .82, and -".80, respectively). ' These correlations show

evidence of a ~trong association between the performance on these test variables and giant slalom performance. The second hypothesis predicted that there would be signifi.::ant differences among the three levels of alpine skiers (club, divisional, and provincial) in the - performance of each, on-site test. ft was expected that . , performance scores would vary according to the level of the skier. This did not prove to be the case. The on-site test battery detected signif,icant differences between club

and divisional racers in almost ev~ry test variable. For the most part, however, no significant différences were found between the divisional and provincial racers. Since \ the divisional and provincial racers follow similar dryland , training programs and attend similar races, it stands to reasQn that physiological parameters should be similar. There were significant diffèrences between the provincial" and di visional ski ers in_ a giant slalom race, yet these differences were relatively small in magnitude compared to

the ,difference between the club-and ~ivisional racers.

, . 6.2 Conclusions

~ Within the delimitations and limitations of the present study, the following conclusions seem justified: 1) There was a signif,icant (p<.05) correlation o }-, ' · , ", ,

between the giant slalom time trial and the followinq test variables: peak power, Mean power, post-exercise b100d lactate after the Wingate

test, the' hexagonal o~stac1e" test, v the high' box test, blood lactate after the high box test, the 20-m shuttle run, the five double leg jump test, and the vertical jump. 2) Compared to club racers, divisional and provincial caiiber ski racers have significant1y Jetter.

performance scores on the :following varia~les:

peak power, mea~ power', post-exerdise blood lactate after the wingate test, the hexagonal obstacle test, the high box test, blood lactate after the high box test, the 20-m shuttle run, thê five double 1eg jump test, and the vertical jump.

6.3 RecomiDendations

Based on. the fihdings of the ~resent study the follow ing recommendations are in order: 1) When assessing tl}e physio1ogical status of alpine ski racers, the fOllowing tests should be

incorporated in the testing battery~ peak power and Mean power of the wi9qate test, the hexagonal. obstacle test, the high ~x test, the 20-m shutt-le c- " o f , run f the five d~uble leg jump t('st, and the

vertic~l jump. 2) FOllow-up studies should examine the sensitivity of the test battery to detect changes in physical condition through different periods of the skier's annual training program.

3) Further studies shoul'd be v conducted to evaluate the optimal durat'ion of the modified Jlingate test and the high box test for alpine skiers. 4) FOllow-up studies on the test battery should be conducted using skiers of a broader range of . ability, including members of the national team and recreational ski racers. 5) ,To examine the agility component of the hexagonal obstacle test and the five double leg jump test, , , follow-up studies shoulçi ~ompare these tests wlth other agility tests.

o , 1\ ,J; , ' - '-, ;a ,,' r " "-,~T , " (.. ;,'

, ' 82

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, , \ APPENDIX A ... Hexaqonal obstacle test • ~~ r:J ~fW l, '' 6"x6 "xl," , plexiglass . base

1 1/2''xl/8'' al~inum . flats l ,- \ BASE DETAn. .\ \: ..

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