Assessment of Physiological Profiles in Developing Norms for Cardiopulmonary Fitness for Sri Lankan Rowers

Measurement of maximum oxygen consumption at tissue level (VO2 max) using cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) is considered the gold standard in evaluating physiological fitness of an athlete. No such testing had been conducted on Sri Lankan national level rowers up to date. With this background the aim of this study was to evaluate the physiological profile of national rowers of Sri Lanka to assess the state of their cardiopulmonary fitness. Anthropometrical and physiological profiles were created for 22 rowers (10 males and 11 females). The Shapiro-Wilcoxon test was used to check the normal distribution. Means and standard deviations of the parameters were calculated. A P value less than 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.  Twenty rowers achieved more than 90% of their predicted HR and one achieved a HR of more than 85% indicating a maximum effort by the entire group. The average work rate achieved by oarsmen were 231 W, which is an average of 82% of the predicted. The average HR achieved was 187 BPM, which corresponds to an achievement of 96% of the predicted. The average respiratory exchange ratio achieved by oarsmen were 0.96, an indication of anaerobic glycolysis at peak exercise. Oarswomen achieved a peak workload of 235 which is slightly more than oarsmen. This is an achievement of 81% of the predicted. The group average HR achieved by oarswomen was 95 BPM, which is an achievement of 95% of the predicted. The group average RER was 0.84 which indicates a mixture of aerobic and anaerobic glycolysis at peak exercise. The VO2 values obtained by Sri Lankan rowers are low compared to international standards. Despite the overall lower VO2 max obtained by male rowers, their VO2 at AT was at a higher percentage of their peak VO2, indicating better cardiovascular fitness. Cardiovascular exercise can be improved to achieve a higher VO2 with a lower HR through threshold training in order to improve performance and uplift the stranded of rowing in Sri Lanka.