The aim of this study was to investigate the physiological load of free practices (F), qualifying sessions (Q), and official races (R) of motorcycling competitions. Twenty-six female riders (age: 30.8 +/- 6.1 yrs) participated in this study. Anthropometric and strength evaluations were performed. Subject's heart rate (HR) was continuously recorded during three periods (5-minute Pre, Ride, and 5-minute Post) of the F, Q, and R phases of competitions. Blood lactate concentrations (La) were determined at rest and after riding. Riders had 56.5 +/- 6.7 kg of body mass, 164 +/- 4 cm of height, 21.6 +/- 4.4 % of body fat, and a BMI of 20.9 +/- 2.3 kg . (m (2)) (-1). Significant handgrip differences were found between the preferred (307 +/- 32 n) and non-preferred (281 +/- 47 N) limbs. During riding, frequency of occurrence of HR >or= 90 % HR (max) was 67 % in F, 74 % in Q, and 83 % in R. La after ridings (4.8 +/- 2.6 mmol . l (-1)) was two-folds (p < 0.05) the basal values (2.2 +/- 0.5 mmol . l (-1)), independently from the competition phases. The present HR and La data show that female road race motorcycling imposes a very intensive physical strain to the riders who need to control their motorbikes while performing frequent accelerations and decelerations.
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