Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the physiological load of free practices (F), qualifying sessions (Q), and official races (R) of motorcycling competitions. Twenty-six female riders (age: 30.8 ± 6.1 yrs) participated in this study. Anthropometric and strength evaluations were performed. Subject's heart rate (HR) was continuously recorded during three periods (5-minute Pre, Ride, and 5-minute Post) of the F, Q, and R phases of competitions. Blood lactate concentrations (La) were determined at rest and after riding. Riders had 56.5 ± 6.7 kg of body mass, 164 ± 4 cm of height, 21.6 ± 4.4 % of body fat, and a BMI of 20.9 ± 2.3 kg · (m2)-1. Significant handgrip differences were found between the preferred (307 ± 32 n) and non-preferred (281 ± 47 N) limbs. During riding, frequency of occurrence of HR ≥ 90 % HRmax was 67 % in F, 74 % in Q, and 83 % in R. La after ridings (4.8 ± 2.6 mmol · l-1) was twofolds (p < 0.05) the basal values (2.2 ± 0.5 mmol · l-1), independently from the competition phases. The present HR and La data show that female road race motorcycling imposes a very intensive physical strain to the riders who need to control their motorbikes while performing frequent accelerations and decelerations.
Key words
riders - cardiac load - road races - women's motorcycling - motorsports
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MS Laura Capranica
IUSM
Department of Human Movement and Sport Sciences
P.za L. De Bosis, 15
00194 Rome
Italy
eMail: laura.capranica@iusm.it
