Investigation of physiological capacities of elite visually impaired futsal players by cardiopulmonary exercise test

ABSTRACT Investigation of Physiological Capacities of Elite Visually Impaired Futsal Players by Cardiopulmonary Exercise Test Futsal is a variant of football, five-a-side played indoor on a hard court, continues to surge in popularity around the world. The intermittent nature of the sport necessitates the use of aerobic and anaerobic energy pathways by the futsal athletes. Cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) is a procedure allows assessment of impact of exercise that performed under controlled metabolic conditions on the response of respiratory, cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems. Futsal is a sportive activity performed under the governance of national Federation of Futsal for Turkey, and there are teams competing at national and international level. But, in addition to difficulties in attracting athletes for this group, there is lack of information on current capacities of candidate athletes for this sportive branch. The aim of this study was to asses sport-related physiological capacities of elite futsal players. For this purpose, physiological parameters reflecting sportive capacity of a total of 18 athlete, nine elite nine professional, athlete licenced by Turkish Football Federation of Visullay Impaired Futsal was measured. The athletes performed an incremental (5 Watt/20 sec) cardiopulmonary exercise test, (pedaling at 60 rpm), up to their maximum and maximal oxygen uptake, anaerobic threshold, heart rate and maximal achievable work rate was determined by cardiopulmonary exercise testing system (equipped with 12 lead ECG gas analyser and ergospirometry). When all the participated athletes were considered; the mean maximal oxygen uptake was 40±6 mL/kg/min (91±16% of the expected, (n=18), and oxygen uptake at anaerobic threshold was 26±8 mL/kg/min. The maximal work rate achieved was 190±30 watt, which was 82±17% of the expected value (n=18). The obtained data is comparable with the related literature values for this sport branch. This first measurements among elite futsal players has a potential of serving reference values of physiological capacity in Turkey. Keywords: Exercise test, Futsal, Physiological capacity, Visualy impaired athlete