Upper Extremity Muscle Activity During Simulated Dryland Swimming While Wearing Wetsuit

Triathletes typically wear a wetsuit during the swim portion of an event, but it is not clear if muscle activity is influenced by wearing a wetsuit. The purpose of this study was to investigate if shoulder muscle activity was influenced by wearing a full sleeved wetsuit vs. no wetsuit during simulated dryland swimming. Subjects (n=10 males; 179.07±13.18cm; 91.20±7.25 kg; 45.6±10.52 years) completed two dry land simulated swimming conditions (VASA Ergometer Trainer): No Wetsuit (NWS) and with Wetsuit (WS). Electromyography (EMG) of four upper extremity muscles was recorded (Noraxon telemetry EMG, sample rate = 1000 Hz) for each condition: Trapezius (TRAP), Triceps (TRI), Anterior Deltoid (AD) and Posterior Deltoid (PD). Each condition lasted 90 seconds with data collected during the last 60 seconds. Resistance setting was self-selected and remained constant for both conditions. Stroke rate was controlled at 60 strokes per minute pace controlled by metronome. Average (AVG) and Root Mean Square (RMS) EMG were calculated over 45 seconds and each were compared between conditions using a paired t-test (_=0.05). PD and AD AVG EMG and RMS EMG were each greater during WS vs. NWS (p0.05). The greater PD and AD muscle activity while wearing a wetsuit might affect swimming performance and /or stroke technique on long distance event.