Purpose: The critical power (CP) concept has been extended from cycling to the running field with the development of wearable monitoring tools. Particularly, the Stryd running power meter and its 9/3-minute CP test is very popular in the running community. Locating this mechanical threshold according to the physiological landmarks would help to define each boundary and intensity domain in the running field. Thus, this study aimed to determine the CP location concerning anaerobic threshold, respiratory compensation point (RCP), and maximum oxygen uptake (VO₂max). Method: A group of 15 high-caliber athletes performed the 9/3-minute Stryd CP test and a graded exercise test in 2 different testing sessions. Results: Anaerobic threshold, RCP, and CP were located at 73% (5.41%), 86.82% (3.85%), and 88.71% (5.84%) of VO₂max, respectively, with a VO₂max of 66.3 (7.20) mL/kg/min. No significant differences were obtained between CP and RCP in any of its units (ie, in watts per kilogram and milliliters per kilogram per minute; P ≥ .184). Conclusions: CP and RCP represent the same boundary in high-caliber athletes. These results suggest that coaches and athletes can determine the metabolic perturbance threshold that CP and RCP represent in an easy and accessible way.

Background: Active methodologies have emerged in which they focus their importance of the teaching-learning process in students and not only on the result. In this way, research has been conducted using the active methodology Flipped Learning ...

As an alternative to analysing the contribution of performance in specific segments of a triathlon to the overall result as measured in terms of time or position, which has several limitations, previous studies have instead analysed the performance indicator in triathlon. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to analyse the relationship between performance in specific segments and overall performance in terms of sprint distance in elite triathletes through the triathlon performance indicator, instead of using time or position. The official sprint distance results from World Triathlon Series elite events from 2012 to 2019 were examined. In total, 2144 entries were considered, 1143 of which were men and 1001 were women. Performance in the cycling segment presents the best concordance with the overall performance for both elite men (ICC_a = 0.871, IC95% = (0.711–0.927)) and elite women (ICC_a = 0.907, IC95% = (0.875–0.929)). Although the performance in the running segment does not show the best concordance with the overall performance, the position in this segment does better explain the overall position, especially in elite men and in draft-legal races. These results can support coaches and athletes to identify a specific profile of the strengths and weaknesses of triathletes in competitions, in comparison to their rivals, over a specific distance.

To date, the performance in triathlon has been measured through time or position. Although this is what defines the medals and the goal of the competition, it can have some limitations. As an alternative, the purpose of this study is to assess the degree of concordance of performance between each of the triathlon disciplines with overall performance through the triathlon performance indicator for the Olympic distance event. The official results from the World Triathlon Series for Olympic distance events from 2000 to 2019 were examined. A total of 11,263 entries were analysed, 6273 corresponding to elite men and 4990 to elite women. Moderate agreement was found between the running performance and overall performance in both elite men ICCa = 0.538 and elite women ICCa = 0.581. Moreover, moderate agreement was found between swimming performance and overall performance in both elite men ICCa = 0.640 and elite women ICCa = 0.613. Finally, good agreement was found between cycling performance and overall performance also in both elite men ICCa = 0.777 and elite women ICCa = 0.816. The main results of the present study show that the cycling performance indicator could be an alternative to anticipate the overall performance in the competition for the Olympic distance event.

Maximum oxygen consumption and maximum power output are critical measures for training prescription in endurance sports such as rowing. The objective of this investigation was twofold: to compare the physiological and mechanical responses of female and male traditional rowers during a graded exercise test and to establish reference values in this specific rowing modality that have not yet been documented, unlike in Olympic rowing. Twenty-one highly trained/national level rowers participated in the study: 11 female (age: 30.1 ± 10.6 years, height: 167.3 ± 5.0 cm, body mass: 61.9 ± 4.9 kg) and 10 males (age: 33.5 ± 6.6 years, height: 180.8 ± 6.9 cm, body mass: 74.4 ± 6.9 kg). Significant differences (p < 0.05) were found in rowing performance between sexes, with a very large effect size (d = 7.2). The peak power output for the female rowers was 180.9 ± 11.4 W and 287.0 ± 17.7 W for the male rowers. The female rowers reached a VO_2max of 51.2 ± 6.6 mL/kg/min at a mean of 174.5 ± 12.9 W, while the males’ VO_2max was 62.1 ± 4.7 mL/kg/min at a mean of 280.0 ± 20.5 W. These differences in VO_2max and maximal aerobic capacity were significant (p < 0.05), with a large (d = 1.9) and very large (d = 6.2) effect size, respectively. A moderate association between VO_2max, and rowing performance expressed in watts per kilogram of muscle mass was observed in the female rowers (r = 0.40, p = 0.228). For the male rowers, the correlation between VO_2max and relative peak power output in watts per kilogram of body mass was strong (r = 0.68; p = 0.031). This study highlights the differences in the kinetics of ventilatory and mechanical parameters between female and male rowers and the importance of these differences for specific physical preparation in traditional rowing.

Competitive-grouping by chronological age is a common organizational strategy in competition which may unintentionally promote relative age effects, for the benefit of older individuals within the same competitive-group, especially in young athletes. This work presents the aim of analyzing differences in young triathletes on their performance within each competitive group. A total of 1243 entries of both sexes, both children—13–14 years old—and cadets—15–17 years old—participated. Firstly, we identified the year in the competitive group and relative-age semester for all the triathletes who competed in a total of six seasons from 2013 to 2018. Secondly, the performance indicator was calculated in all the segments in a triathlon competition for all triathletes. The Kruskal-Wallis Test and U Mann Whitney Test was applied. It was observed that all cadet triathletes born in the first semester of the year (S1, born in January–June) were faster; for both boys and girls. Likewise, it was observed that older triathletes who competed within the same category were faster, but only in males and for both competitive groups: children (p < 0.0083), and cadet (p < 0.0033). In conclusion, families, coaches and sports political agencies need a greater knowledge and understanding of the effects of relative age and competitive grouping to understand the important role of age in the development of sports talent demonstrated in this study.