Abstract
This study compared power outputs (PO) from both the upper body (UB) and lower body
(LB) Wingate tests of anaerobic power between biathletes and control subjects. Ten
biathletes (B) selected by the British Ski Federation for potential assignment to
the British team and 13 control (C) subjects cranked or pedaled the same Bodyguard
orgometer at maximal RPMs for 30 s against resistances of 2.94 and 4.41 J/rev/kg body
weight (BW), respectively. POs were calculated in watts (W) and expressed as peak
power (PP, highest 5-s interval), mean power (MP, the mean for 30 s), and power decrease
(PD, difference between PP and lowest 5-s PO divided by time). Absolute PP and MP
for both UB and LB did not differ between groups. A comparison of POs made relative
to BW showed B to have higher values than C: 11.25 vs 10.25 W/kg for LB PP (P < .05) and 9.21 vs 7.96 W/kg for LB MP (P < .001). The data expressed relative to kg fat free mass (FFM) showed only MP to
be significantly greater in B compared with C (P < .001). Similar PO relationships were found for the UB where PP (P < .01) and MP (P < .001) expressed per kg BW and MP (P < .001) expressed per kg FFM were higher for ? than C. Concomitantly, PD was lower
in B than C for both the UB (P < .05) and LB (P < .01). These data show that significant differences exist in the anaerobic performance
of aerobically trained athletes compared with subjects who are not highly trained
and that these differences are reflected in the musculature of the UB as well as the
legs.
Key words
anaerobic power - Wingate test - biathlete - aerobic power
