Abstract

The aims of this study were (a) to describe the cardiovascular and metabolic demands and (b) to evaluate the effect of an endurance training on blood lactate (Lac) after street dance (SD). Nine female dancers (15.3 ± 1.2 years old) performed the following procedures, pre and post training: SD choreography (6 min), and 48 h later maximum incremental test (on treadmill) to obtain the lactate threshold (LT). Soon after the SD choreography the Lac and heart rate (HR) were registered. The training consisted of three running sessions per week on a treadmill (30 min, intensity 90 to 100% of LT) during eight weeks. The results showed that in post training, the values of Lac and HR_peakimmediately after the SD choreography increased significantly (p < 0.05) when compared to the pre training Lac = 8.2 ± 2.4 to 10 ± 2 mmol.L^-1; HR_peak = 179.9 ± 10 to 188.4 ± 5.8 bpm^-1). In addition, training improved the LT from 8.4 ± 0.8 to 11.1 ± 1.4 km.h^-1. Therefore, we conclude that the SD has high metabolic and cardiovascular demand (~ 90% HR_max) and endurance training increases Lac after specific SD choreography.

Key words: Metabolism, lactate, dancers, exercise, aerobic conditioning.