Author(s): KUMAGAWA, D., IMAWAKA, T., NOSAKA, K., Institution: KOKUSHIKAN UNIVERSITY , Country: JAPAN, Abstract-ID: 1189

INTRODUCTION:
In ice speed skating, athletes race against time for distances from 500 to 10,000 m on a 400-m ice rink. It is an interest how ice speed skate performance time can be predicted. Speed skating training produces hypertrophy to lower limb muscles (1). Dry-land training commonly includes cycling exercises and slide board exercises. Previous studies have reported a significant correlation between peak anaerobic power on a cycle ergometer and 500-m skating performance (2). Furthermore, power output during slide board exercises has been shown to be useful for evaluating both technical and physical performance of ice skating (3, 4). However, no previous study attempted to predict sating performance using multiple parameters. The purpose of this study was to examine whether a combination of thigh muscle thicknesses (MT), peak anaerobic power during maximal cycling pedaling (MAnP), and peak speed in slide-board skating (SBS) could predict 500-m ice skating performance better than a single measure across different age groups.
METHODS:
Height, body mass, MT, MAnP, SBS, and average ice-skating velocity in 500-m (SS500) from the best time at competitions immediately preceding to the other measurements were collected from 652 male speed skaters in Japan. The data consisted of 12.0 years or younger (U12, n=127), 12.0-14.9 years (U15, n=213), 15.0-17.9 years (U18, n=166), and 18.0-22.0 years (U22, n=146). For each age group, a multiple regression equation for estimating SS500 was obtained from each measure, the validity of the model was examined by analysis of variance, and the validity of the partial regression coefficient of each measure was examined by t-test.
RESULTS:
The combination of MT, MAnP, and SBS demonstrated a higher correlation with SS500 (r=0.550-0.810) when compared with each variable individually (MT: r=0.336-0.573, MAnP: r=0.444-0.775, SBS: r=0.158-0.638) across all age groups. The coefficient of determination for SS500 based on the three variables was highest for U15 (r2=0.656), followed by U18 (r2=0.536) and U12 (r2=0.428), and the lowest for U22 (r2=0.303). The partial regression coefficients were the highest for SBS in U12 (β=0.453), MAnP in U15 (β=0.532), and MT in U18 (β=0.497).
CONCLUSION:
These results suggest that the 500-m performance of young male ice speed skaters can be predicted by the combination of MT, MAnP, and SBS with approximately 30-66% accuracy with the higher accuracy in the 12-18 y. However, which factor is dominant was different between age groups such that the dominant factor shifted with maturation, with SBS being more dominant factor for younger skaters, MAnP for mid-adolescence, and MT becoming more important in later stages of development.

References
1) Sovak & Hawes. J Sports Sci. 5(3):287-304, 1987.
2) Smith & Roberts. J Appl Sport Sci Res. 5(3):110–15, 1991.
3) Kumagawa & Tsunoda. J Training Sci Exer Sport. 18(3):241-9, 2006.
4) Kandou, et al. Can J Sport Sci. 12(1):31-6, 1987.