The changes in maximal oxygen uptake (VoO2MAX) induced by physical exertion during an Antarctic expedition depend on the initial VoO2MAX of the individuals: a case study of the Brazilian expedition
Arantes, Rosa M. E.
- 1Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
- 2
Journal
International Journal of Circumpolar Health
ISSN
1239-9736
2242-3982
Open Access
gold
Volume
77
Antarctic climate is challenging, since the cold, wind and sensory monotony are stressful stimuli to individuals. Moreover, camp activities and heavy clothes may contribute to increase physiological strain. Thus, we aimed to characterise the physiological demand of a 24-day period in the Antarctic field and then to evaluate the effect of this expedition on the aerobic fitness in individuals with heterogeneous initial aerobic fitness (as determined by estimating maximum oxygen consumption - VoO(2MAX)). Before and after the 24-day period in Antarctica, 7 researchers and 2 mountaineers were subjected to incremental tests to estimate their VoO(2MAX). Field effort was characterised by measuring heart rate (HR). During the field trips, their HR remained 33.4% of the recording time between 50-60% HRMAX, 22.3% between 60-70% HRMAX, and only 1.4% between 80 and 90% HRMAX. The changes in estimated VoO(2MAX) during the expedition depended on the pre-expedition aerobic fitness. The post-expedition VoO(2MAX) increased by 5.9% and decreased by 14.3%in individuals with lower (researchers) and higher (mountaineers) initial VoO(2MAX), respectively. We concluded that physical effort in the Antarctic field is characterised as predominantly of low- to moderate-intensity. This effort represented an effective training load for individuals with lower initial (V) over dotO(2MAX), but not for those with higher (V) over dotO(2MAX).
Name
10_1080-22423982_2018_1521244.pdf
Type
Main Article
Size
2.47 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum
(MD5):ef57f3cf1fde585ee1135ef806085973