Dr.Med., Associate Professor E.Y. Dyakova¹
Postgraduate А.А. Mironov^1
1National Research Tomsk State University, Tomsk

Keywords: adaptation, peripheral blood circulation, rheovasography, finswimming, athletes.

Introduction. In the long-term training process of elite athletes the increment of their sports results is primarily provided by the adaptive resources of their body. At the stage of elite sports, the main task is not to maximize the training loads, but to satisfy the athletes’ need to realize their potential and body’s capabilities in the contest season in a timely manner, fast and without fail.

Training process constantly affects the body, changing its functional state and forcing it to adapt to physical loads [4]. We have detected unidirectional, consistent changes in the central and peripheral hemodynamics in various microcycles within an annual training cycle [3]. The bulk of the load in finswimming is on the lower limbs. Effective blood circulation in the working organs, which depends on the nature of the load, just as the central hemodynamics, contributes to high working capacity and rapid recovery [1, 2].

Objective of the study was to analyse the peripheral blood circulation in the lower limbs of finswimmers.

Methods and structure of the study. Subject to the study was an Experimental Group of highly-skilled (Sport Masters and Candidate Sport Masters) finswimmers (n=15 aged 18-23 years) having 9+ years of competitive track records. The studies were conducted at the end of the competitive period. The training regime consisted of 1-2 training sessions per day carried out 5-6 days a week. The Reference Group was made of 15 volunteers (aged 18-21 years) from the academic body conditioning groups of Tomsk State University. Their training regime included 2-3 training sessions per week. The studies were conducted on days-off, during the recovery period.

Rheovasography of the lower limbs was performed using Valenta Computerised Test System (made by Neo Company Ltd., Russia) with the subjects’ thighs and shins being tested using a bipolar scheme. The readings were taken at rest and after physical load, presented by a conditioning exercise "burpee". The exercise consisted of three parts: 1) moving into a squat position from a standing position with your hands on the ground; 2) kicking the feet back into a plank position, immediately return your feet into squat position; 3) jumping up while clapping hands overhead and returning to the standing position.

Results and discussion. The rheovasographic indices obtained in the "thigh" and "shin" segments showed that the tone of the medium- and small-caliber thigh arteries was lower in the finswimmers’ group than in the body conditioning group, as confirmed by the average speed of rapid and slow blood filling (Table 1). Venous return from the thighs was found to be higher in the finswimmers’ group than in the body conditioning group. This may be attributable to the differences in the diastolic index values. The vascular tone in the thigh was significantly higher in the body conditioning group than in the group of finswimmers - as indicated by the peripheral resistance index, integral tone coefficient and mean hemodynamic pressure index (Table 1). The vascular tone in the shin was also lower in the group of finswimmers, based on the indices of integral tone and mean hemodynamic pressure (Table 2).

The rapid and slow filling times in the vessels of the shin were significantly higher in the body conditioning group; however, in the group of finswimmers it was the blood filling rate, mainly in the venous bed, that was significantly higher, as shown in Table. 2.

Table 1. Resting rheovasographic indices of thigh in the finswimmers’ and body conditioning groups, X̅±σ

Table 2. Resting rheovasographic indices of shin in the finswimmers’ and body conditioning group, X̅±σ

The analysis of the results of rheovasography of the thigh and shin after physical exercise in the finswimmers’ and body conditioning groups (Tables 3, 4) revealed a more intensive level of blood filling in the studied segments in the finswimmers. The tone of the medium- and small-caliber arteries of thigh and shin was lower in athletes than in the Control Group, as confirmed by the mean rapid and slow filling rates.

Table 3. Rheovasographic indices of thigh in the finswimmers’ and body conditioning groups after exercise, X̅±σ

Table 4. Rheovasographic indices of shin in the finswimmers’ and body conditioning groups after exercise, X̅±σ

Conclusion. The blood circulation system of elite finswimmers was found better adaptable to constant physical load and hypoxia with the adaptation processes including the following: relaxation of tonus of the arterial vessels and high-intensity arterial blood flow securing a higher regional minute pulse volume and better venous return. RG subjects trained in the body conditioning groups also showed some adaptation to the physical loads albeit less expressed versus that of finswimmers. The RG was tested with somewhat hindered venous return with the blood circulation indices being generally lower than in the group of finswimmers.

References

1. Kudrya O.N., Kiryanova M.A., Kapilevich L.V. Osobennosti perifericheskoy gemodinamiki sportsmenov pri adaptatsii k nagruzkam razlichnoy napravlennosti [Features of peripheral hemodynamics in athletes when adapting to different types of load]. Byulleten sibirskoy meditsiny, 2012, no. 3, pp. 48 – 52.
2. Shestakov I.M., Terkulov A.F. Tsentralnaya gemodinamika sportsmenov, spetsializiruyuschikhsya v plavanii v lastakh [Central hemodynamics of finswimmers]. Materialy vseros. nauch.-prakt. konf. spetsialistov podvodnogo sporta "Podvodny sport. Sovremennoe sostoyanie i perspektivy razvitiya” [Proc. res.-practical conf. diving sport experts "Diving. Current state and development prospects]. SibSAU publ., Krasnoyarsk, 2005, pp. 147-152.
3. Yakovleva V.P. Kharakteristika gemodinamiki i nekotorykh pokazateley metabolizma u plovtsov-podvodnikov vysokoy kvalifikatsii v dinamike godichnogo trenirovochnogo tsikla. Avtoref. dis. kand. biol. nauk [Characteristics of hemodynamics and some metabolic indices in highly skilled divers within annual training cycle. PhD diss. abstract]. Chelyabinsk, 2009, 23 p.
4. Illarionova, A.V., Kapilevich, L.V. Osobennosti vnutrimyshechnoy i mezhmyshechnoy koordinatsii pri dozirovanii usiliy v usloviyakh neustoychivogo ravnovesiya [Distinctive features of intramuscular and intermuscular coordination at power graduation in the context of balance training]. Teoriya i praktika fizicheskoy kultury, 2014, 12, pp.44-46.

Corresponding author: adyakova@yandex.ru

Abstract

Objective of the study was to analyse the peripheral blood circulation in the lower limbs of finswimmers. Subject to the study was an Experimental Group of highly-skilled (Sport Masters and Candidate Sport Masters) finswimmers (n=15 aged 18-23 years) having 9+ years of competitive track records. The Reference Group was composed of 15 volunteers (aged 18-21 years) from the academic body conditioning groups of Tomsk State University.

Rheovasography of the lower limbs was performed using Valenta Computerised Test System (made by Neo Company Ltd., Russia) with the subjects’ thighs and shins being tested using a bipolar scheme. The study data were statistically processed using the Mann-Witney U-criterion by STATISTICA 12.0 software toolkit.

It was found that many rheovasographic lower-limb test rates of the finswimmers were significantly different from those of the Reference Group both at rest and after exercise. On the whole the blood circulation system of the athletes was found better adaptable to physical load, with the adaptation processes including the following: vasodepression and high-intensity arterial blood flow securing higher regional minute volume and better venous return. The RG subjects from the body conditioning groups also showed some adaptation to the physical loads albeit less expressed versus that of the finswimmers. The RG was tested with somewhat hindered venous return with the blood circulation being generally lower than in the finswimmers’ group.