title: The physiological responses to repeated upper-body sprint exercise in highly trained athletes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study performance, physiological and biomechanical responses during repeated upper-body sprint exercise.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twelve male elite cross-country skiers performed eight 8-s maximal poling sprints with a 22-s recovery while sitting on a modified SkiErg poling ergometer. Force, movement velocity, cycle rate, work per cycle, oxygen saturation in working muscles and pulmonary oxygen uptake were measured continuously. A 3-min all-out ergometer poling test determined VO2peak, and 1 repetition maximum (1RM) strength was determined in a movement-specific pull-down.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Average sprint power was 281 ± 48 W, with the highest power on the first sprint, a progressive decline in power output over the following four sprints, and a sprint decrement of 11.7 ± 4.1 %. Cycle rate remained unchanged, whereas work per cycle progressively decreased (P < 0.05). m. triceps brachii and m. latissimus dorsi were highly desaturated already after the first sprint (all P < 0.05), whereas the response was delayed for m. biceps brachii and m. vastus lateralis. Correspondingly, increases in VO2 mainly occurred over the first two sprints (P < 0.05) and plateaued at approximately 75 % of VO2peak. 1RM correlated with power during the first four sprints and with average sprint power (r = 0.71-0.80, all P < 0.05), whereas VO2peak correlated with power in the last three sprints (r = 0.60-0.71, all P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The main decrement in upper-body sprint performance was evident in the first five sprints, followed by highly desaturated muscles and a plateau in pulmonary oxygen uptake already after the first 2-3 sprints. While high maximal strength seems important for producing power, aerobic capacity correlates with power in the last sprints.
authors: Department of Neuroscience, Center for Elite Sports Research, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491, Trondheim, Norway, oyvind.sandbakk@svt.ntnu.no.
authors: Øyvind
authors: Ø
authors: Sandbakk
authors: Tommy Fredriksen
authors: TF
authors: Skålvik
authors: Matt
authors: M
authors: Spencer
authors: Mireille
authors: M
authors: van Beekvelt
authors: Boye
authors: B
authors: Welde
authors: Ann Magdalen
authors: AM
authors: Hegge
authors: Terje
authors: T
authors: Gjøvaag
authors: Gertjan
authors: G
authors: Ettema
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015308:Anaerobic Threshold; D056352:Athletes; D054874:Athletic Performance; D015444:Exercise; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013909:Thorax / Q000502:physiology*