Comparison of propulsive forces between two head-out water exercises

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyse and compare the propulsive force between two basic head-out water exercises. Twenty-nine young healthy participants (age: 21.7 ± 1.9 years-old, body mass: 68.5 ± 10.8 kg, height: 168.2 ± 9.6 cm) performed an incremental protocol for each exercise (horizontal adduction and rocking horse) from 105 beats per minute (b·min-1) until 150 b·min-1 with increments of 15 b·min-1 every 30 seconds. Data acquisition required a differential pressure system to obtain propulsive forces in upper limbs’, especially the peak force for the dominant member (DPeakF) and non-dominant member (NDPeakF). Force values from both exercises were higher in DPeakF and NDPeakF even when increasing the music cadence and higher forces were found in HAAdd. Differences (p ≤ 0.05) were found when comparing two exercises at lower music cadences. The main conclusion is that there are significantly differences between two basic head-out water exercises at lower cadences