Duration Of Swimming Practice Has Differential Effect On Airway Caliber And Muscular Efficiency

Swimming, by increasing the airway caliber and muscular efficiency brings about enhanced pulmonary function. However, the effect of duration of swimming practice on these effects is sparsely evaluated and the present study attempts to address this aspect. Pulmonary function test was conducted among healthy male (20-30 years) volunteers who were regular swimmers (n=51) and was compared with controls (n=51)who practiced athletic events but not swimming. Swimmers (23.52 ±1.87 years) were significantly younger than controls (24.39 ± 2.22 years) with 5.33±1.82 years of swimming practice. Swimmers exhibited increased VC, FVC, FEV1, PEFR, MEF25%, MEF50%, MEF25/75% than controls. Swimmers demonstrated a significant positive correlation between duration of swimming practice and airway caliber (FEV1, MEF25%, MEF50%, MEF25/75%), whereas, muscular efficiency (VC and PEFR) did not demonstrate any correlation. This demonstrates that, airway modulation takes place proportionately with duration of swimming practice. Contrary, muscle efficiency did not showed such behavior, thereby, a ceiling effect on skeletal muscle efficiency could be expected with prolonged duration of swimming practice.