Relations Between Calf Muscle Endurance And Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing Parameters In Elite Female Ballet Dancers

Ballet is similar in some ways to other sports where explosive bursts of dynamic activity are followed by precise and skilled movements. Strong aerobic capacity and a high anaerobic threshold in ballet dancers could minimize the negative effects of blood lactate accumulation and enhance the ability to recover. Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing (CPET) is a tool that combines gas exchange measurement that provides a comprehensive evaluation of the physiologic response to exercise. The use of CPET to evaluate only VO2 max, as is commonly used, fails to employ this laboratory test to its fullest capacity to define the pathophysiology of exercise limitation. Considering that low aerobic capacity and muscle endurance are disadvantageous for ballet dancers, it is important to comprehensively evaluate both the skeletal muscle function and aerobic capacity which will determine the physiologic response to maximal exercise. PURPOSE: To provide a comprehensive profile of CPET parameters and investigate its relationship with calf muscle endurance in female ballet dancers. METHOD: Ten ballet dancers underwent CPET using the Bruce protocol and a single-leg heel raise test to measure calf muscle endurance by performing plantar flexion movement at 120 beats per minute. RESULTS: The profile of CPET parameters are provided in Table 1. Pearson correlation test detected significant associations between the single-leg heel raise test with VO2 max (r = 0.572, p = 0.035), and respiratory exchange ratio (r = 0.642, p = 0.045). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that improvement of calf muscle endurance is associated with adequate oxygen transport to peripheral tissue. Fat and carbohydrate oxidation were also increased in each individual during the single-leg heel raise test. This study also provides a comprehensive profile of CPET outcomes for elite female ballet dancers in Jakarta. Furthermore, CPET could be a standard procedure to measure the performance of ballet dancers. - Parameters Mean ± SD VO2 max (ml/kg/min) 33.91 ± 8.11 Anaerobic Threshold (ml/kg/min) 18.23 ± 3.35 Anaerobic Threshold (%VO2 max) 54.86 ± 8.54 Respiratory Exchange Ratio 1.16 ± 0.07 Breathing Reserve 25.4 ± 9.7 VE/VCO2 Slope 29.68 ± 4.76 VO2/HR slope (O2 Pulse) 13.68 ± 2.11