In 1978, Beaudin, Zapiec and Montgomery investigated the physiological responses that occurred during a squash game. This purpose of the study was:
To determine whether squash was intense enough to promote and/or maintain cardiovascular fitness.
To measure blood lactate levels following a squash game to determine if blood lactate increased significantly as a result of playing squash.
Method – How did the authors conduct the test.
For this study the authors selected 10 male subjects (n=10) who all were above average squash players:
Mean age: 29.4years old
Mean body mass: 77.4kgs
Mean body fat: 10.3%
Mean resting heart rate taking upon awakening: 55.6pm
Prior to the squash game taking place, a maximal aerobic test took place to determine aerobic capacity, the mean relative VO2 max was: 45ml-1.kg.min-1. Maximum heart rate for each participant was also determined during the maximal aerobic test.
Players were to partake in a 45-minute squash match and were given a three-minute warm up. Heart rate for each player was monitored during the warmup period and for the 45 minutes of play; blood lactate was monitored prior to exercise and 5 minutes post; this was done by taking a blood sample from the fingertip.
Exercise intensity for the squash game was quantified using the Karvonen formula (expressed as a % of heart rate reserve).
Results – What did the authors find:
The following points regard lactate concentration:
Prior to the squash game, mean resting lactate values were 11.9 ± 3.4mg%.
Following the squash match mean lactate levels increased to 24.5± 13.8mg%.
Four subjects were noted to not have any significant increase in blood lactate levels, whilst the other subjects recorded two to four-fold increases in blood lactate.
The following points relate to heart rate:
The mean maximum heart rate was 185 ± 12.5bpm
The mean heart rate was 155 ± 8.2 bpm
Mean heart rate intensity was 77% with a range of 19%
During the first minute of play, the mean heart rate was 136bpm, which corresponded to an intensity of 63%.
Following the initial ten minutes of play, only small fluctuations occurred in heart rate heart: 6bpm.
The maximum minute to minute fluctuation recorded was 11bpm, even with a 20 second break, the heart rates recorded dropped very little.
For this study, the ball was in play 58% of the time, this equates to 26.1 minutes of actual playing time out of the 45 minutes allocated. It was calculated that players on average hit the ball 10.9 times per minute.
The authors found that post exercise blood lactate concentrations appeared to be affected by the average intensity of the activity, though the post exercise lactate concentration and percent intensity had a correlation of r = 0.67, which is not particularly strong. The two subjects whom had the highest heart rate intensities also had the highest lactate concentrations, though in most cases it was noted that the lactate produced after 45 minutes of gameplay was minimal. It was concluded that this may be due to the predominant energy system being that of the aerobic system due to steady state being reached (indicating cardiovascular adjustments occurred to the subsequent task). Overall, due to the average intensity of play (77% of HRR), the authors concluded that playing squash would be sufficient enough to elicit aerobic training effects but does not produce high lactate concentrations.
Limitations to the study:
Various inconsistencies were noted in the data reporting with mean and range being used interchangeably at points. Using the mean and standard deviation would have sufficed. As it regards the lactate value reporting, it is hard to determine what the lactate values mean as it does not conform to standard lactate value reporting, which is in mmol/L. This may due to the time that this study was conducted and that reporting standards on lactate had not been established. As a reference, normal lactate concatenations in the blood are <1mmol/L in unstressed and non-exercising individuals and can rise in excess of 20mmol/L during intense exercise.
Lastly, gameplay is stated to be 45minutes in length. This does not account for any breaks and may change the way in which a game is played (players opt for a more conservative style of play to save energy). If match play was to be played in games rather than continuous, it is hypothesised that higher intensities and subsequent lactate readings would occur.
For a link to the full article, click here.
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Reference:
Beaudin, P., Zapiec, C., & Montgomery, D. (1978). Heart rate response and lactic acid concentration in squash players. Research Quarterly. American Alliance for Health, Physical Education and Recreation, 49(4), 406-412.