Medical Checks

Lanserhof x BORA-Hansgrohe

At the beginning of December, the most successful German cycling team ‘BORA-Hhansgrohe’ was at Lake Tegernsee for their third consecutive annual medical exami-nations! The team was supported on-site by the sports scientists as well as a cardiolo-gist from LANS Medicum/Cardio to determine the fitness and health status of the cy-cling pros.

Lanserhof has not only been sponsoring the team for 6 years, but has also conducted a number of tests at the beginning of each season.
First body fat percentage is measured. The skinfold caliper method is one of the most accurate and easiest methods to do so. The caliper is used to measure the thickness of a fold of skin. In addition, the rider is weighed, as the rule of thumb is:
Body weight (kg) x body fat percentage (%) = body fat (kg).

Subsequently, during the performance diagnostics, the lung volume is measured. With their noses clamped, the athletes breathe through a mouthpiece into the so-called spi-rometer, which measures the speed and volume of the air that is breathed in and out. The cyclist first breathes in and out calmly. Then he exhales deeply once, takes in as much air as possible, and blows it out again with force.

On average, a healthy adult can exhale a volume of two to three litres of air in a short amount of time, while athletes can reach a volume of eight litres.
The aim of spiroergometry is to obtain information about the heart, lungs, and muscu-lar metabolism of a person under exertion by measuring the respiratory gases. For this purpose, the respiratory volume, i.e. the amount of air transported per breath, is rec-orded. In addition, the concentration of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the breathed air is measured under physical exertion.

See a few impressions from the week here

Credits Oliver vonberg Photography, Double-T-Photographers