Abstract
The present study investigated the acute effects of a mixed-modality,
long-duration adventure race on pulmonary function in adolescent athletes.
Twenty male adolescents aged 14 to 17 years volunteered to participate in a
wilderness adventure race of 68.5-km. Expiratory function was evaluated before,
immediately after, and 24 h after race completion. Measurements included
forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 s
(FEV1) and peak expiratory flow (PEF). Maximal inspiratory and
expiratory mouth static pressures (MIP and MEP, respectively) were also measured
using a portable hand-held mouth pressure meter across the same time points. The
mean completion time of the race was 05:38±00:20 hours. A
significant post-race decrease in FVC was observed immediately after the race
(−5.2%, p=0.01). However, no significant changes were
observed for FEV1, PEF and the FEV1/FVC and
FEV1/PEF ratios. In addition, estimates of respiratory
muscle strength (MIP and MEP) were unaffected by the race. The long-duration
adventure race induced no marked reduction in expiratory pulmonary function and
this response was associated with no apparent respiratory muscle fatigue.
Therefore, the pulmonary system of trained adolescent athletes was sufficiently
robust to sustain the mixed-modality, long-duration adventure race of
~ 5–6 h.
Key words
endurance - young athletes - lung function - expiratory flows - respiratory muscle strength
