Abstract des Autors

Several studies have explored some aspects of the coupling of respiration with movement in skiing. For example, in double poling where propulsion is only generated through upper-body action, there is clear coupling with a 1:1 ratio of breathing to the poling cycle (Holmberg et al., 2007; O'Hagan et al., 1992, Stöggl et al., 2013). In skating, synchronization is less clear. Fabre et al. (2007) measured locomotor respiratory coupling for V2 and V2A skating techniques at two moderate intensities and expressed this in terms of degree of coordination as a percentage of cycles. Substantially greater coordination of breathing with poling was observed for the V2A technique which is similar to V1 in that one poling action is used per cycle. Unfortunately, the comparisons of the Fabre et al. study were made on uphill slopes (4-10%) where V2A skating is not typically used; V1 would be the preferred technique. The current study aimed to compare the two relevant skating techniques (V1 and V2) which are both used on moderate uphill terrain. Hence the research questions for this study are as follows: In the V1 and V2 ski skating techniques, do skiers coordinate breathing with the movement patterns? If so, does breathing frequency match poling frequency or skating frequency? Note that for V1 skating, poling and skating frequencies are different, while for V2 these are the same.