Key result
Incremental swimming preserves stable blood glucose in trained swimmers despite enhanced carbohydrate metabolism.
Why the study?
The study was conducted to investigate the relationship between blood glucose response and respiratory exchange ratio during an intermittent incremental swimming test in well-trained swimmers.
Cross-Sectional (n=7)
No
Blood glucose does not increase during high-intensity swimming despite enhanced carbohydrate metabolism, suggesting higher glucose clearance from the blood compared to land-based exercise.
Should not yet alter glycemic monitoring in swimmers; hypothesis-generating for enhanced glucose clearance in aquatic versus land exercise.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between blood glucose (Glu) response and respiratory exchange ratio (RER) during an intermittent incremental swimming test in well-trained swimmers. Seven male swimmers participated in this study. The participants conducted an intermittent incremental swimming test consisting of 3-min periods of swimming with 2-min intervals in a swimming flume. Blood lactate (Bla) and Glu were measured after each incremental swimming step. Metabolic response was measured continuously to investigate RER. As results, Glu remained at a similar level throughout the test, whereas Bla and RER abruptly increased at high-intensity swimming stage. Rise in RER reflects the increase in carbohydrate oxidation, it was clarified that Glu did not increase while carbohydrate metabolism enhanced. It was speculated that Glu clearance from the blood was higher during high-intensity swimming, which result in different Glu response compared to exercise on land.
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Sengoku et al. (2024) conducted a cross-sectional in Well-trained competitive swimmers (n=7). Intermittent incremental swimming test vs. Low-intensity swimming stages (60% V200) was evaluated on Blood glucose concentration across incremental swimming intensities (p=>0.05). Blood glucose levels remained stable at approximately 5.0 mmol/l throughout an intermittent incremental swimming test in well-trained swimmers, despite a significant increase in respiratory exchange ratio indicating enhanced carbohydrate metabolism.
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