Post-Exercise Increase in Maximal Voluntary Ventilation in Swimmers and Water Polo Players: Different Changes in Spirometric Indices and Inspiratory Flow–Volume Loop Parameters
5 affiliations
- 1Department of Water and Winter Sports, Józef Piłsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw, ul. Marymoncka 34, 00-968 Warsaw, Poland
- 2Department of Intelligent Systems and Data Science, Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology, 02-008 Warsaw, Poland
- 3Doctoral School, Józef Piłsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw, ul. Marymoncka 34, 00-968 Warsaw, Poland
- 4Collegium Medicum, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, ul. Jagiellońska 13–15, 85-067 Bydgoszcz, Poland
- 5Department of Neuroinformatics and Biomedical Engineering, Institute of Computer Science, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, 20-033 Lublin, Poland
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Maximal voluntary ventilation (MVV) is often calculated from the forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1 × 35–40), assuming a constant relationship between the two. It is unknown whether this holds immediately after maximal exercise, or whether post-exercise changes in MVV are similar across disciplines with different breathing patterns. The aim was to compare post-exercise changes in MVV and flow–volume loop indices in swimmers and water polo players, and to explore whether the change in FEV1 predicts the change in MVV in individual athletes. Methods: The study included 29 competitive swimmers and 33 competitive water polo players (spirometry performed in 61 persons), examined in the competitive period of the annual training cycle. Spirometry (14 variables, including inspiratory loop indices and forced expiratory time) was performed at rest and immediately after 30 s of maximal tethered swimming (the post-exercise measurement was completed within approximately 2 min). Nonparametric longitudinal analysis of variance (F1-LD-F1 design, ANOVA-type statistic) was used. For each person the error of the relative change in MVV estimated from FEV1 (change in MVV − change in FEV1) was calculated. Results: MVV increased in both groups (median change: swimmers 7 percentage points, water polo players 17 percentage points; time effect p < 0.001). The increase was larger in water polo players (group × time interaction p = 0.048), whose resting MVV was lower, but after adjustment for resting MVV the difference in the increase was not significant (p = 0.319). The change in FEV1 did not predict the change in MVV in swimmers (ρ = 0.00; p = 0.98), and in water polo players the association was moderate (ρ = 0.44; p = 0.012). The FEV1-based estimate of the change in MVV overestimated the increase in swimmers (median error −5.9 percentage points; 95% CI −8.0 to −4.5) and underestimated it in water polo players (11.9 percentage points; 95% CI 7.7 to 13.7); the between-group difference was p < 0.001, but it was not significant after adjustment for age and body mass index (BMI; p = 0.112). In swimmers, FEV1 and inspiratory loop indices (forced inspiratory vital capacity, FIVC; forced inspiratory volume in one second, FIV1; peak inspiratory flow, PIF) increased, but their resting values indicated incomplete inspiratory effort in the baseline measurement; in water polo players forced expiratory time shortened to a greater extent. Conclusions: A post-exercise increase in MVV occurs in both disciplines, but it is accompanied by different changes in spirometric indices. In the early post-exercise period (within approximately 2 min), the change in FEV1 does not reflect the change in MVV in individual athletes, and the direction of the error of the estimate differs between the groups, which limits the usefulness of MVV calculated from FEV1 in this period. The results are exploratory and require confirmation in a larger sample balanced for sex and age.
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BibTeX
@article{stachowicz2026postexercise,
title = {{Post-Exercise Increase in Maximal Voluntary Ventilation in Swimmers and Water Polo Players: Different Changes in Spirometric Indices and Inspiratory Flow–Volume Loop Parameters}},
author = {Małgorzata Stachowicz and Mateusz Żbikowski and Aleksandra Stachowicz and Michał Stachowicz and Grzegorz Wójcik},
journal = {Journal of Clinical Medicine},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.3390/jcm15218525},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/15/21/8525},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Post-Exercise Increase in Maximal Voluntary Ventilation in Swimmers and Water Polo Players: Different Changes in Spirometric Indices and Inspiratory Flow–Volume Loop Parameters
AU - Małgorzata Stachowicz
AU - Mateusz Żbikowski
AU - Aleksandra Stachowicz
AU - Michał Stachowicz
AU - Grzegorz Wójcik
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/02
JO - Journal of Clinical Medicine
DO - 10.3390/jcm15218525
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0383/15/21/8525
AB - Background/Objectives: Maximal voluntary ventilation (MVV) is often calculated from the forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1 × 35–40), assuming a constant relationship between the two. It is unknown whether this holds immediately after maximal exercise, or whether post-exercise changes in MVV are similar across disciplines with different breathing patterns. The aim was to compare post-exercise changes in MVV and flow–volume loop indices in swimmers and water polo players, and to explore whether the change in FEV1 predicts the change in MVV in individual athletes. Methods: The study included 29 competitive swimmers and 33 competitive water polo players (spirometry performed in 61 persons), examined in the competitive period of the annual training cycle. Spirometry (14 variables, including inspiratory loop indices and forced expiratory time) was performed at rest and immediately after 30 s of maximal tethered swimming (the post-exercise measurement was completed within approximately 2 min). Nonparametric longitudinal analysis of variance (F1-LD-F1 design, ANOVA-type statistic) was used. For each person the error of the relative change in MVV estimated from FEV1 (change in MVV − change in FEV1) was calculated. Results: MVV increased in both groups (median change: swimmers 7 percentage points, water polo players 17 percentage points; time effect p < 0.001). The increase was larger in water polo players (group × time interaction p = 0.048), whose resting MVV was lower, but after adjustment for resting MVV the difference in the increase was not significant (p = 0.319). The change in FEV1 did not predict the change in MVV in swimmers (ρ = 0.00; p = 0.98), and in water polo players the association was moderate (ρ = 0.44; p = 0.012). The FEV1-based estimate of the change in MVV overestimated the increase in swimmers (median error −5.9 percentage points; 95% CI −8.0 to −4.5) and underestimated it in water polo players (11.9 percentage points; 95% CI 7.7 to 13.7); the between-group difference was p < 0.001, but it was not significant after adjustment for age and body mass index (BMI; p = 0.112). In swimmers, FEV1 and inspiratory loop indices (forced inspiratory vital capacity, FIVC; forced inspiratory volume in one second, FIV1; peak inspiratory flow, PIF) increased, but their resting values indicated incomplete inspiratory effort in the baseline measurement; in water polo players forced expiratory time shortened to a greater extent. Conclusions: A post-exercise increase in MVV occurs in both disciplines, but it is accompanied by different changes in spirometric indices. In the early post-exercise period (within approximately 2 min), the change in FEV1 does not reflect the change in MVV in individual athletes, and the direction of the error of the estimate differs between the groups, which limits the usefulness of MVV calculated from FEV1 in this period. The results are exploratory and require confirmation in a larger sample balanced for sex and age.
SN - 2077-0383
ER -