Energy expenditure of extreme competitive mountaineering skiing

• Published in: European journal of applied physiology Vol. 114; no. 10; pp. 2201 - 2211
• Main Authors: Praz, Caroline, Léger, Bertrand, Kayser, Bengt
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.10.2014; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult; Altitude; Athletes; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Competitive Behavior - physiology; Cross country skiing; Energy; Energy Metabolism; Female; Heart rate; Human Physiology; Humans; Male; Marathons; Middle Aged; Mountain climbing; Mountaineering - physiology; Occupational Medicine/Industrial Medicine; Original Article; Physiology; Skiing - physiology; Skis; Sports Medicine; Switzerland; Energy balance; Endurance; Skiing; Altitude
• ISSN: 1439-6319; 1439-6327; 1439-6327
• DOI: 10.1007/s00421-014-2939-1

Purpose Multi-hour ski mountaineering energy balance may be negative and intake below recommendations. Methods Athletes on the ‘ Patrouille des Glaciers ’ racecourses (17 on course Z, 27 km, +2,113 m; 11 on course A, 26 km, +1,881 m) volunteered. Pre-race measurements included body mass, stature, V O 2max , and heart rate (HR) vs V O 2 at simulated altitude; race measurements HR, altitude, incline, location, and food and drink intake (A). Energy expenditure (EE) was calculated from altitude corrected HR derived V O 2 . Results Race time was 5 h 7 min ± 44 min (mean ± SD, Z) and 5 h 51 min ± 53 min (A). Subjects spent 19.2 ± 3.2 MJ (Z), respectively, 22.6 ± 2.9 MJ (A) during the race. Energy deficit was −15.5 ± 3.9 MJ (A); intake covered 20 ± 7 % (A). Overall energy cost of locomotion (EC) was 9.9 ± 1.3 J m −1  kg −1 (Z), 8.0 ± 1.0 J m −1  kg −1 (A). Uphill EC was 11.7 ± 1 J m −1  kg −1 (Z, 13 % slope) and 15.7 ± 2.3 J m −1  kg −1 (A, 19 % slope). Race A subjects lost −1.5 ± 1.1 kg, indicating near euhydration. Age, body mass, gear mass, V O 2max and EC were significantly correlated with performance; energy deficit was not. Conclusions Energy expenditure and energy deficit of a multi-hour ski mountaineering race are very high and energy intake is below recommendations.