Maximal and anaerobic threshold cardiorespiratory responses during deepwater running

Aquatic exercises provide numerous benefits to the health of their practitioners. To secure these benefits, it is essential to have proper prescriptions to the needs of each individual and, therefore, it is important to study the cardiorespiratory responses of different activities in this environment. Thus, the aim of this study was to compare the cardiorespiratory responses at the anaerobic threshold (AT) between maximal deep-water running (DWR) and maximal treadmill running (TMR). In addition, two methods of determining the AT (the heart rate deflection point [HRDP] and ventilatory method [VM]) are compared in the two evaluated protocols. Twelve young women performed the two maximal protocols. Two-factor ANOVA for repeated measures with a post-hoc Bonferroni test was used (α < 0.05). Significantly higher values of maximal heart rate (TMR: 33.7 ± 3.9; DWR: 22.5 ± 4.1 ml.kg−1.min−1) and maximal oxygen uptake (TMR: 33.7 ± 3.9; DWR: 22.5 ± 4.1 ml.kg−1.min−1) in TMR compared to the DWR were found. Furthermore, no significant differences were found between the methods for determining the AT (TMR: VM: 28.1 ± 5.3, HRDP: 26.6 ± 5.5 ml.kg−1.min−1; DWR: VM: 18.7 ± 4.8, HRDP: 17.8 ± 4.8 ml.kg−1.min−1). The results indicate that a specific maximal test for the trained modality should be conducted and the HRDP can be used as a simple and practical method of determining the AT, based on which the training intensity can be determined