Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Testing peak cycling performance: effects of braking force during growth

2000; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Volume: 32; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1097/00005768-200002000-00035

1530-0315

E. Dor, M. Bedu, NANCI M. FRAN A, Ousmane Diallo, Pascale Duch, Emmanuel Van Praagh,

Children's Physical and Motor Development

DORÉ, E., M. BEDU, N. M. FRANÇA, O. DIALLO, P. DUCHÉ, and E. VAN PRAAGH. Testing peak cycling performance: effects of braking force during growth. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 32, No. 2, pp. 493–498, 2000. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between cycling peak power (CPP; flywheel inertia included) and the applied braking force (FB) on a friction-loaded cycle ergometer in male children, adolescents, and adults. A total of 520 male subjects aged 8–20 yr performed three brief maximal sprints against three FB: 0.245, 0.491, and 0.736 N·kg−1 body mass (BM) (corresponding applied loads: 25 [FB25], 50 [FB50], and 75 [FB75] g·kg−1 BM). For each FB, peak power (PP) was measured (PP25, PP50, and PP75). For each subject, the highest PP was defined as CPP. Results showed that PP was dependent on FB. In young adults PP25 underestimated CPP by more than 10%, and consequently, FB25 seemed to be too low for this population. However, in children, PP75 underestimated CPP by about 20%. A FB of 0.736 N·kg−1 BM was definitively too high for the pediatric population. Therefore, the optimal FB, even corrected for BM, was lower in children than in adults. The influence of growth and maturation on the force-generating capacity of the leg muscles may explain this difference. In this study, however, it was shown that the difference between PP50 and CPP was independent of age for the whole population investigated. Consequently, when flywheel inertia is included, one cycling sprint with a FB of 0.495 N·kg−1 BM (corresponding applied load: 50 g·kg−1 BM) is a feasible method for testing both children, adolescents, or young adults.