The Interrelationship between Performance Parameters and Variables of Respiratory Function of Orienteers

IntroductionMany observations have shown the adaptive changes in the respiratory system of the athletes engaged in various sports (Harries, 1994; Mehrotra, Varma, Tiwari, & Kumar, 1998; Mazica et al., 2015). The adaptive changes most commonly results in the increase of some pulmonary function tests (lung volumes and capacities, forced expiratory volume in one second, peak expiratory flow etc.) (Mehrotra et al., 1998; Mazica et al., 2015; Adegoke & Arogundade, 2002; Bilgin, Cetin, & Pulur, 2010 ). Some studies have suggested the significant positive relationship between aerobic capacity and pulmonary function tests (Harries, 1994; Bilgin et al., 2010; Fatemi & Ghanbarzadeh, 2010; Chaitra, Pandurang, Nagaraja, & Vijay, 2011). The significant improvement in the pulmonary functions have been found in endurance trained athletes: swimmers (Mehrotra et all., 1998; Nilesh et al., 2012), basketball and water polo players, rowers (Mazica et all., 2015), cyclists, middle and long distance runners (Harries, 1994). Some authors have suggested that respiratory system could be an exercise limiting factor in the endurance events (Boutellier, Buchel, Kundert, & Spengler, 1992; McKenzie, 2012 ). Orienteering is an endurance running event which differs from other running sports both in its cognitive element and in the type of terrain encountered (Creagh & Reilly, 1997). It has been shown that aerobic capacity was among the best predictors of performance in orienteering (Creagh & Reilly, 1997; Larsson, Burlin, Jakobsson, & Henriksson-Larsen, 2002 ). Thus, it is reasonable to assume the influence of the respiration parameters on the performance parameters in orienteering. However, the adaptive changes in the respiratory system of the orienteers remains poorly investigated. Therefore our study was undertaken to reveal the adaptive changes in the respiration function variables of high skilled orienteers and such adaptive changes effect on orienteers performance.MethodThe investigation has been carried out on orienteers 20-25 years age. They were divided into three groups - MMS (master of sport, males), FMS (master of sport, females) and MCM (candidate master, males), described in table 1.All the participants were informed about the aim and methodology of the study and they volunteered to participate in this study. Informed consent was obtained. This study was approved by ethics committee of the Lviv State University of Physical Culture. All procedures accorded with the principles of the Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki). The pulmonary function tests were recorded with the help of Spir°ComStandard computerized pulmonary function test machine and analyzed by Spir°Com 3.1. 122.10041 software. The respiratory function variables were determined at rest and during the respiratory function tests of vital capacity (VC), forced vital capacity (FVC) and maximum voluntary ventilation during 15 s (MVV15). Obtained respiration variables (BTPS) were compared with predicted normal values (%norm, calculated by built-in functions based on F.Pistelli, M.Bottai, G.Viegi, et al. equations). The values of mean distance speed (MDS in meters per second) were used as the parameter of orienteers performance. The statistical analysis was carried out by SPSS 11.5 package software. All values are given as mean σM (standard error of the mean). They were compared using the t-test. Changes with P ≤ 0,05 were considered to be significant.ResultsThe highest values of MDS on the classical and short distances were found for the male orienteers of the highest qualification - in MMS group (table 1). The MDS values in MCM and FMS groups on short distance were 9.63% (P