Water running with and without a flotation vest in competitive and recreational runners

The purpose of this study was to determine whether competitive and recreational runners would replicate land training intensity during water immersion (WI) running with (V) and without (NV) a flotation vest and during treadmill running (Tm). Seven female competitive runners (CR) and seven female noncompetitive runners (NR) were asked to replicate preferred land training intensity characteristic of a 45-min run under three conditions (Tm, V, and NV). When 20-min submaximal runs at the preferred land training intensity were performed for Tm, V, and NV conditions, CR were able to elicit a similar submaximal VO2 for all three conditions. In contrast, the NR group had a significantly (P < 0.05) lower VO2 (27%), HR (23%), VE (26%) and %VO2max (27%) during V versus Tm condition. During the NV condition, NR had a significantly lower VO2 (13%), %VO2max (13%), and a higher RPE compared with Tm running, and a significantly higher VO2 (16%), HR (15%), VE (24%), %VO2max (15%) and RPE compared with the V condition. Competitive runners were able to achieve training intensities similar to land training for WI running with or without a flotation vest. However, recreational runners failed to replicate land training pace, where intensity was significantly lower during WI running without a vest and lowest with a vest, despite efforts to maintain a similar level of exertion.