BIOMECHANICAL AND CARDIOMETABOLIC CHANGES IN A SKILLED KAYAKER AFTER 41 DAYS OF CRUISING AROUND THE ISLAND OF SARDINIA: A CASE STUDY (PART 1)

Filippo Tocco^1,9, Myosotis Massidda¹, Giovanna Ghiani¹, Marco Palmas^1,9, Michele Ruggiu^1,9, Fernanda Velluzzi¹, Roberto Solinas¹, Alberto Masala², Andrea Fois³, Laura Melis³, Andrea Manuello Bertetto⁴, Antonio Hector dell’Osa⁵, Angelo Cerina⁶, Cristiana Cappagli⁷, Salvatore Melis^8,9, Valentina Loi⁸, Ricardo Marcello⁸, Alberto Concu^8,9*

¹ Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health and University Hospital, University of Cagliari, Italy
² Sports Medicine Association of Sassari, Sassari, Italy
³ Nomadyca Ltd, Remote Biosignals Acquisition Unit, Mulago Hospital, Kampala, Uganda
⁴ Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy
⁵ Laboratorio de Electrónica Aplicada y Biomedicina, Universidad Nacional de Tierra del Fuego, Ushuaia, Argentina
⁶ Acquaforte Thalasso & Spa Medical Team, Forte Village Resort, Santa Margherita di Pula, Cagliari, Italy
⁷ Kpurple, individual company, Cagliari, Italy
⁸ AC Technologies Ltd, Internet of Things Unit, Cagliari, Italy
⁹ Sporting Life & Medicine Lab, Sardegna Ricerche, Cagliari, Italy
* Corresponding author: aconcu44@gmail.com

ABSTRACT: 47-years old male kayaker Italian instructor, passionate about the sea, circumnavigated the island of Sardinia (Italy) by means of his kayak only covering a total of 969 km in 41 days. Before and after the trip he underwent several medical-biomechanical and nutritional checks: Cardiopulmonary Exercise test up to exhaustion on a kayak ergometer to assess cardiovascular, respiratory and biomechanics variables; echocardiographic measurement of volumes and flows of the heart’s left ventricle; body impedance analysis to evaluate body mass and composition. With respect to the tests made before the kayak route the respiratory pattern shifted from frequency to tidal volume dominion, the peak oxygen consumption per kg increased by 13%, the respiratory ratio by 16% and the energy expenditure of about 12%. After the trip the maximum fat oxidation capacity rises 10.5% while the left ventricle stroke volume was augmented by 32%. The decrement in body mass and in waist circumference (both -5%) together with the increase of fat mass in the arms area (+9%) indicate improvements in the athlete’s metabolic flexibility.

KEYWORDS: Kayaking, cardiopulmonary test, Stroke volume, Body impedance analysis, Metabolic flexibility

DOI: https://doi.org/10.69076/jomac.2024.0033

CITATION: F. Tocco, M. Massidda, G. Ghiani, M. Palmas, M. Ruggiu, F. Velluzzi, R. Solinas, A. Masala, A. Fois, L. Melis, A. Manuello Bertetto, A.H. Dell’Osa, A. Cerina, C. Cappagli, S. Melis, V. Loi, R. Marcello and A. Concu, BIOMECHANICAL AND CARDIOMETABOLIC CHANGES IN A SKILLED KAYAKER AFTER 41 DAYS OF CRUISING AROUND THE ISLAND OF SARDINIA: A CASE STUDY (PART 1), International Journal of Mechanics and Control, Vol. 25, No. 02, pp. 113-119, 2024, https://doi.org/10.69076/jomac.2024.0033

DOWNLOAD LINK (OPEN-ACCESS)