orienteering – SEMS-journal

exercise physiology sports science performance

The value of performance diagnostcs in orienteering

Endurance testing has a long tradition in the Swiss Orienteering Federation. It has become an important tool in monitoring effectiveness of training and in assessing endurance performance. The vast majority of athletes and coaches indicate that sport science is meaningful and endurance testing is of high informative value for them. Endurance testing is regularly done in the lab, but also field tests are carried out each year. They particularly empower and support athletes in their specific preparation for important competitions. Also in the future new competition formats can be prepared and training may be monitored by a new format of specific tests. In various endurance sports physiological demands may be similar.

elite sports performance exercise physiology sports science

Performance diagnostics in endurance sports – anaeroboc threshold, VO2max, aerobic capacity – where do we go?

Exercise testing in athletes and patients is an important and valuable diagnostic tool in the hand of the physician and sport scientist. A close collaboration between sport scientist and sport physician creates a win-win-win-situation for athletes and patients and professionals equally. According to the demands of the sport an incremental lactate threshold test (determination of the anaerobic threshold), testing of VO2max and performance at VO2max, and a testing of aerobic capacity (performance at competitional level) are the tests of choice. All tests need to be valid, reliable and sport specific. Sport specificity in testing is for practical purposes the most important.

elite sports performance sports science

High relevance of difference in trail characteristics for average running times in orienteering

Background Orienteering takes place in a range of different areas including mountains and woodlands, whereby motoric and coordinative requirements on the orienteers differ strongly depending on the respective terrain. The aim of this study was to investigate differences in average speed of orienteers in three terrain types in Switzerland: Alps, Jura and Mittelland.

elite sports performance training exercise physiology sports science

Performance analysis in orienteering with consideration of both cognitive and physical aspects

The diagnostic protocol presented here allows orienteers to compare themselves to others in the sample and to analyse the proportion of physical and technical skills in their overall performance. In order to test the protocol 3 female and 11 male leisure athletes completed two short orienteering courses, one with four control points (distance 0.80 km, altitude 5 m) and one with eight (distance 1.95 km, altitude 40 m). The average running time was 6 min and 40 sec (± 2 min 18 sec) on the short and 17 min 36 sec (5 min ± 1 sec) on the long course when orienteering. After courses were marked with the optimum route running times decreased, as expected, to 3 min 45 sec (± 48 sec) on the short and 9 min 21 sec (± 1 min 19 sec) on the long course.