Track cycling sprint sex differences using power data

PeerJ

article

Hamish Ferguson¹  Chris Harnish²  Sebastian Klich³  Kamil Michalik⁴  Anna Katharina Dunst⁵  Tony Zhou¹  J Geoffrey Chase¹ 

[1] Centre for Bioengineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Canterbury;Department of Exercise Science, Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences, Mary Baldwin College;Department of Paralympic Sport, Faculty of Physical Education and Sports, Wrocław University of Health and Sport Sciences;Department of Human Motor Skills, Faculty of Physical Education and Sports, Wrocław University of Health and Sport Sciences;Institute of Applied Training Science, University of Leipzig

关键词: Sprint cycling;    Sports performance;    Female athletes;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.15671

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Objectives Currently, there are no data on sex differences in the power profiles in sprint track cycling. This cross-section study analyses retrospective data of female and male track sprint cyclists for sex differences. We hypothesized that women would exhibit lower peak power to weight than men, as well as demonstrate a different distribution of power durations related to sprint cycling performance. Design We used training, testing, and racing data from a publicly available online depository (www.strava.com), for 29 track sprint cyclists (eight women providing 18 datasets, and 21 men providing 54 datasets) to create sex-specific profiles. R2 was used to describe model quality, and regression indices are used to compare watts per kilogram (W/kg) for each duration for both sexes against a 1:1 relationship expected for 15-s:15-s W/kg. Results We confirmed our sample were sprint cyclists, displaying higher peak and competition power than track endurance cyclists. All power profiles showed a high model quality (R2 ≥ 0.77). Regression indices for both sexes were similar for all durations, suggesting similar peak power and similar relationship between peak power and endurance level for both men and women (rejecting our hypothesis). The value of R2 for the female sprinters showed greater variation suggesting greater differences within female sprint cyclists. Conclusion The main finding shows female sprint cyclists in this study have very similar relationships between peak power and endurance power as men. Higher variation in W/kg for women in this study than men, within these strong relationships, indicates women in this study, had greater inter-athlete variability, and may thus require more personalised training. Future work needs to be performed with larger samples, and at different levels to optimize these recommendations.

【 授权许可】

CC BY