Introduction:

Intermediate altitudes between 1 500 and 3 000 above sea level bring about changes in basal metabolism, which are increased by physical training in sports with a predominance of aerobic efforts extending for more than three minutes.

Objective:

Determine the anaerobic threshold of swimmers training in Bogotá at an altitude of 2 600 meters.

Methods:

Thirty swimmers were evaluated: 12 women and 18 men from the youth and senior categories, age 16-24 years, bifin modes, racing swimming, and sportspeople training for national championships. The following measurements were taken: 30-min continuous swimming test, heart rate at the start and end of the test, lactic acid at the end, body analysis and maximal oxygen consumption. Measurement records were analyzed statistically.

Results:

At the end of the 30-min continuous swimming test lactic acid concentrations were up to 14 mmol/l for men and 9 mmol/l for women, and heart rates maximal and submaximal. The best mean body fat percentages were 20 for women and 10 for men, whereas muscle mass percentages were 33 for women and 41 for men.

Conclusions:

Lactic acid and heart rate values at intermediate altitudes were found to be much higher than those proposed by the existing bibliography to determine the anaerobic threshold. Mean body fat percentages were 10 for men and 20 for women. The 30-min test may be appropriate to determine the anaerobic threshold speed at intermediate altitudes. The training volume for that capacity may be equivalent to the one obtained from it, and may be split up using 200-meter distances with brief pauses of 10 to 30 seconds.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )