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European Journal of Sport Science - 2025 - Wagner - Sex Differences in Double Poling Performance The Role of Upper‐Body472.29 kB
Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Sex Differences in Double Poling Performance: The Role of Upper-Body Strength and Endurance in Youth Elite Cross-Country Skiers and Biathletes
European Journal of Sport Science, Vol.25(4), pp.1-12
2025
PMID: 40108479
Abstract
The study aimed to investigate sex differences in double poling (DP) ergometer performance among youth elite cross-country skiers and biathletes and determine if these sex differences may be explained by upper-body strength and endurance capacities. Thirteen female and nine male youth elite cross-country skiers and biathletes (age: 16.7 ± 1.7 years; VO2max: 60.7 ± 6.3 mL·kg−1 min−1), matched for relative performance, completed a test battery evaluating upper-body strength and power along with various endurance parameters on a DP ergometer. Testing included one-repetition maximum (1RM) in upper-body exercises, maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) running test, and DP ergometer incremental test to exhaustion and sprint tests to determine peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak-DP), maximal lactate accumulation rate (vLamax), and power. Body mass and body composition were measured using bioelectrical impedance analysis. The findings demonstrated that the absolute differences in maximal strength, peak, and mean DP power outputs from both sprint and incremental tests to exhaustion (29%–38% difference), as well as maximal and peak oxygen uptake (29%–31%) between male and female athletes, were considerably reduced (2%–12%) following normalization to fat-free mass (FFM). Correlations of absolute and FFM normalized VO2max, VO2peak-DP with peak and mean power output from both sprint and incremental test to exhaustion during DP ergometry were significant (rxy = 0.69–0.87) and remained consistent after correction for sex (rxy-z = 0.61–0.84). These findings suggest that sex performance differences are primarily attributable to absolute differences in maximal aerobic power, maximal strength, and FFM.
Details
- Title
- Sex Differences in Double Poling Performance: The Role of Upper-Body Strength and Endurance in Youth Elite Cross-Country Skiers and Biathletes
- Authors
- Carl-Maximilian Wagner - Leuphana University of LüneburgJohn Owen Osborne (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of HealthØyvind Sandbakk - UiT The Arctic University of NorwayStephan Schiemann - Leuphana University of LüneburgDaniel Röhrs - Universität HamburgTobias Schmidt - MSH Medical School Hamburg – University of Applied Sciences and Medical UniversityMichael Keiner - German Sport University Cologne
- Publication details
- European Journal of Sport Science, Vol.25(4), pp.1-12
- Publisher
- John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
- Date published
- 2025
- DOI
- 10.1002/ejsc.12253
- ISSN
- 1536-7290; 1746-1391
- PMID
- 40108479
- Copyright note
- © 2025 The Author(s). European Journal of Sport Science published by Wiley-VCH GmbH on behalf of European College of Sport Science. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
- Data Availability
- The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Health
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991121652602621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web Of Science research areas
- Sport Sciences