Cardiorespiratory Aerobic Fitness and Repeated Sprint Ability in Elite Ice Hockey Players

IIce hockey represents a sport with predominantly anaerobic efforts best reflected by repeated sprint ability (RSA) testing (5x5 seconds with 10 seconds recovery). A controversy persists about the usefulness of V̇O2 max laboratory testing for the assessment of ice hockey players. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the relationship between laboratory measured V̇O2 max and RSA simulated on a supine ergometer and tested on ice. Elite male hockey players (n = 64) were tested in the laboratory (V̇O2 max and RSA). RSA was performed by modified Wingate test (5 x 5-seconds sprints with 10 seconds recovery). In 28 athletes RSA were assessed during an on-ice testing (5 maximal skating sprints between the goal and the blue line). The decrease in performance was assessed by fatigue indices. In the laboratory settings the V̇O2 max correlated significantly with maximum workloads of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th bout with increasing correlation strength (r= 0.26, p=0.02; r=0.48, p< 0.001; r=0.57, p< 0.001; and r=0.60, p< 0.001) and with fatigue indices - % workload decrement index (r = 0.44, p< 0.001) and % maximum average workload decrement (%) (r=0.38, p=0.002). In addition, V̇O2 max correlated with lactate levels after 10 minutes of recovery (r=0.31, p=0.01). There was no correlation between V̇O2 max and on-ice testing results. Moreover, the results of RSA measured in laboratory and on ice did not show any correlation. The lack of relationship between laboratory and on-ice testing is further challenging the usefulness of bicycle ergometry laboratory testing in ice hockey.