The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of cycle rate (CR) variations
on the metabolic cost and upper body forces during roller skiing with the V2-alternate
technique on flat terrain. Nine highly skilled cross-country skiers roller skied at
a paced speed of 18.0 ± 0.1 km · h-1 using their chosen CR, and CRs that were 10 % slower and 20 % faster. Oxygen uptake
(VO2) was determined through collection of expired gases into a meterological balloon
and poling forces were measured with piezoelectric transducers during the last 30
s of each four minute trial of roller skiing. One-way repeated measures ANOVA revealed
that VO2 varied significantly with CR (p = 0.02) with the chosen CR being significantly lower
than the higher CR (p < 0.05). Poling forces and poling time were not significantly
different among the CR conditions. The present results demonstrate that 1) an alteration
in cycle rate affects metabolic cost of roller ski skating, 2) skiers tend to naturally
select the most economical cycle rate, and 3) moderate variations in cycle rate do
not appear to affect propulsive force generation through the poles in roller skiing.
Cross-country skiing - cycle rate - metabolic cost - poling forces - heart rate -
rating of perceived exertion - duty cycle - ski skating
