Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Physiol.
Sec. Exercise Physiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphys.2025.1534858

Duration-dependent physiological, perceptual, and technical changes during a 2-hour low-intensity training session in female cross-country skiers

Provisionally accepted
Per-Øyvind Torvik Per-Øyvind Torvik 1*Guro Strøm Solli Guro Strøm Solli 1Rune Kjøsen Talsnes Rune Kjøsen Talsnes 2Øyvind Sandbakk Øyvind Sandbakk 3
  • 1 Department of Sports Sciences and Physical Education, Nord Universitet, Levanger, Meråker, Norway
  • 2 Department of Neuromedicine and Movement Science, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Sør-Trøndelag, Norway
  • 3 School of Sport Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Troms, Norway

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This study investigated duration-dependent physiological, perceptual, and technical changes during a 2-hour low-intensity training (LIT) session in female cross-country (XC) skiers.Methods: Twelve national-level female XC skiers (age:21.4±2.7 years, maximal oxygen uptake: 58.1±5.3 mL•min⁻¹•kg⁻¹) performed a 2-hour LIT session, roller-ski skating in the laboratory while alternating between two main sub-techniques (Gear-2 and Gear-3). Acute physiological and perceptual responses, including oxygen uptake, carbon dioxide production, ventilation, breathing frequency, respiratory exchange ratio, blood lactate concentration, and rate of perceived exertion, as well as kinematic variables (cycle length and cycle rate), were collected at four consecutive timepoints (T1-T4) for both sub-techniques. A post-session questionnaire collected data on perceived total, ventilatory, and mental exertion as well as perceived training quality.Results: Relatively small duration-dependent changes were observed for most of the physiological measures. The most pronounced changes were a main effect of time on breathing frequency (BF; F(3,30)=3.52, ηp2=0.260, P=.027) and rate of perceived exertion (RPE;F(3, 33)=4.43, ηp2=0.287, P=.010). More specifically, BF was higher in Gear-3 at both T2 (45.5±7.7 breaths•min -1 ) and T3 (45.5±7.7), compared to T1 (43.2±7.3, all P<0.05).Furthermore, the rate of perceived exertion was higher in both Gear-2 and Gear-3 at T2

    Keywords: 12.1±1.0, G3: 11.2±1.6) and T3 (G2: 12.2±1.1, G3: 11.2±1.6), compared to T1 (G2: 11.5±1.2, G3: 10.6±1.2, all P<0.05 Long-distance slow training, duration, Intensity

    Received: 26 Nov 2024; Accepted: 03 Feb 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Torvik, Solli, Kjøsen Talsnes and Sandbakk. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Per-Øyvind Torvik, Department of Sports Sciences and Physical Education, Nord Universitet, Levanger, Meråker, Norway

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.