INTRODUCTION: Double poling (DP) is commonly used in cross country skiing (XC) (1). It is becoming more and more popular and in some competitions it is the exclusive technique. Ski poles allow a skier to apply power and force to the snow and their composition and design have a significant effect on performance. Different pole lengths and cross sections are some of the differences that have been tested. Advancements in equipment will continue to be introduced so it is important to have research that supports the possible benefits and physiological reasoning behind these changes. The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare ski economy and physiological responses in XC skiing while performing the DP technique with curved and straight ski poles. METHOD: Ten well-trained XC skiers - 5 males (24.2 ±6.83 years 77.12 ±2.41kg) and 5 females (21.8 ±3.42 years 60.18 ±7.04 kg) performed DP in a laboratory with roller skis on a treadmill with 1 degree of inclination using both straight and curved poles. A sub-maximal test protocol was developed that utilized three speeds (men:13,17,21 kmph/women:8,12,16 kmph) and 60 seconds of max speed at the end of each test. Tests were performed with each pole type for 5 minutes so a steady state was reached and in a randomized order. Heart rate, blood lactate, VO2max and pole forces were collected for analysis. RESULTS: Results were analyzed separately for each gender due to changes in the protocol because faster speeds were needed for male subjects. No changes were found in heart rate values when comparing pole types with both male (±<4 bpm) and female (±<2 bpm) subjects. There were slightly higher (n.s) blood lactate values with both male and female subjects with curved poles. Although no differences were found with VO2 values there were significant differences (p<0.05) found in VE values in speed 1 (8kmph) for women (curved:36.88 +4.18, straight:35.34 +4.57 L/min) and significant differences (p<0.05) in speed 3 (21 kmph) for men (curved:116.92 +23.67, straight:112.73+21.47L/min). DISCUSSION: Even though some changes were visible with curved poles the differences were not significant. This could be due to the testing protocol or because of the subjects' unfamiliarity of skiing with curved poles. It is well known that ski economy has a great effect on performance (e.g. 2) so it is important to research and search for any possible improvements. Less than one second is often the difference between winning or losing a medal. CONCLUSION: In the future, research with a testing protocol that is more similar to ski competitions should be used to further investigate the possible gains of using curved ski poles. --- The hosting University of Jyväskylä is planning to publish conference proceedings "Science and Nordic Skiing III". In case you are interested in this publication please contact the editors (Anni Hakkarainen anni.s.j.hakkarainen@jyu.fi) to become registered for the book.
© Copyright 2015 3rd International Congress on Science and Nordic Skiing - ICSNS 2015. 5-8 June 2015, Vuokatti, Finland. Published by University of Jyväskylä; University of Salzburg. All rights reserved.