# Physiological and Biomechanical Characteristics of Olympic and World-Class Rovers--Case Study
## 2 Materials and Methods
### Methodology  
Body mass and height were obtained before the experimental session using a digital scale with a built-in stationeter (SECA, Hamburg, Germany, model 220). The experimental rowing protocol consisted of 7 \(\times\) 3 min rowing with 30 W load increments (starting at 180 and 120 W for the male and the female participants, respectively) and 30 s rest periods plus 1 min maximal effort [10,18]. Pulmonary gas exchange was measured breath-by-breath using a calibrated gas analyzer (K5, Cosmed, Rome, Italy) [19]. Erroneous breaths were excluded, and only data between the mean \(\pm\) 3 SDs were considered (and subsequently smoothed with a moving and time average of three breaths and 10 s) [20]. Maximal VO\({}_{2}\) was determined using primary and secondary criteria, particularly a plateau despite an increase in power [20, 21, 22]. Heart rate (HR) was measured continuously by a Garmin Edge 830 monitor (Garmin, Olathe, KS, USA) that telemetrically emitted to the K5 portable unit. Capillary blood samples (5 \(\mu\)L) for [La\({}^{-}\)] assessment were collected from the earlobe during the 30 s rest intervals and at the 1 st, 3 rd, 5 th and 7 th min post-test (until a peak value was reached) using a Lactate Pro 2 (Arkay, Inc., Kyoto, Japan) [15,19]. The initial sample was discarded to eliminate contaminants and ensure measurement accuracy. Capillary blood collection involved applying controlled pressure to the finger, minimizing volume variations for consistent results [23]. The lactate-power curve was used to assess the anaerobic threshold using the least squares method [24,25]. The low-moderate, heavy, severe and extreme intensities were established as follows: (i) the steps under and at the anaerobic threshold; (ii) the step(s) above the anaerobic threshold; (iii) the step at which maximal VO\({}_{2}\) was reached; and (iv) the 1 min maximum exertion at the end of the protocol [20,26]. Intraabdominal core temperature was continuously retrieved from low-frequency radio waves transmitted from gastrointestinal capsules to an external logger (e-Viewer Performance monitor, BodyCAP, Herouville-Saint-Clair, France) at 15 s intervals [27].  
Power was obtained using rowing ergometer computer software (PM5) [28]; the obtained power per step was then divided by each rower's body mass, and work was calculated as the product of the power and the propulsive time of each step. Kinematic data were recorded using eight video cameras (Miqus, Qualisys AB, Goteborg, Sweden) at 100 Hz and 720 p resolution, with a calibration error under 0.50 mm [29]. Full-body markerless kinematics with 6\({}^{\circ}\) of freedom were obtained using the Theia markerless (v2023.1.0.3161_P14, Kingston, ON, Canada) software [30]. The rowing rate, cycle length, propulsive time, and maximal seat and handle velocity were measured from the catch to finish position of the rowing cycle [19]. The catch factor was considered the time difference between the change in the direction of the seat and handle (with negative values indicating the onset of seat velocity before the handle), and the rhythm was defined as the ratio between the propulsive time and the cycle total duration [31].