IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i9p5382-d804728.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Changes in Upper-Body Muscular Strength and Power in Paralympic Swimmers: Effects of Training Confinement during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Luca Cavaggioni

    (Obesity Unit—Laboratory of Nutrition and Obesity Research, Department of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, 20145 Milan, Italy
    Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy)

  • Alessio Rossi

    (Department of Computer Science, University of Pisa, 56127 Pisa, Italy)

  • Massimiliano Tosin

    (Italian Paralympic Swimming Federation, 00144 Rome, Italy)

  • Raffaele Scurati

    (Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy)

  • Giovanni Michielon

    (Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy)

  • Giampietro Alberti

    (Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy)

  • Giampiero Merati

    (Department of Biotechnology and Life Sciences, University of Insubria, 21100 Varese, Italy
    IRCCS Fondazione don Carlo Gnocchi, 20148 Milan, Italy)

  • Damiano Formenti

    (Department of Biotechnology and Life Sciences, University of Insubria, 21100 Varese, Italy
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Athos Trecroci

    (Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

Abstract

The aim of this case series was to evaluate the effectiveness of a dry-land home-training program conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic period in Paralympic swimmers. Previous evidence showed the importance of muscular strength and power training for Paralympic swimmers due to the positive relationship between severity of impairment, swimming technique and biomechanics parameters. Specifically, we aimed to analyze: (i) the effects of a customized training regime conducted pre, during and post restrictions on upper-body muscular strength and power (one repetition maximum, mean propulsive velocity, and mean relative propulsive power) compared to a regular gym-based program; (ii) the associations between mean propulsive velocity and load during two upper body exercises in order to estimate the one repetition maximum. Four elite Paralympic swimmers were retrospectively analyzed in upper-body muscular strength, mean propulsive velocity and mean relative propulsive power in bench press and lat pull-down exercises at three time points: T0 (prior the Lockdown period), T1 (immediately after the Lockdown confinement), T2 (sixteen weeks after returning to gym training). Our findings suggest a very likely decrement in one repetition maximum, mean propulsive velocity, and mean relative propulsive power during the Lockdown period compared with the T0 period with a subsequent very likely increment in one repetition maximum after returning to gym training (T2) compared with the lockdown period (T0). Conversely, mean relative propulsive power showed an unclear improvement in all athletes in T2 compared with T1. These results were also corroborated by the Friedman’s test followed by the Dunn’s pairwise comparison that mainly showed a decrement from T0 to T1 ( p < 0.05). At the same time, it appears that muscle strength and power could be rapidly restored close to the pre-lockdown levels following an adequate training program in the gym, albeit without significance ( p > 0.05). Finally, the close relationship between mean propulsive velocity and load in bench press and lat pull-down exercises was also confirmed in para swimming, making a possible estimation of one repetition maximum.

Suggested Citation

  • Luca Cavaggioni & Alessio Rossi & Massimiliano Tosin & Raffaele Scurati & Giovanni Michielon & Giampietro Alberti & Giampiero Merati & Damiano Formenti & Athos Trecroci, 2022. "Changes in Upper-Body Muscular Strength and Power in Paralympic Swimmers: Effects of Training Confinement during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-10, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:9:p:5382-:d:804728
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/9/5382/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/9/5382/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ellen Bentlage & Achraf Ammar & Daniella How & Mona Ahmed & Khaled Trabelsi & Hamdi Chtourou & Michael Brach, 2020. "Practical Recommendations for Maintaining Active Lifestyle during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-22, August.
    2. Diogo D. Carvalho & Susana Soares & Rodrigo Zacca & Daniel A. Marinho & António J. Silva & David B. Pyne & J. Paulo Vilas-Boas & Ricardo J. Fernandes, 2019. "In-Water and On-Land Swimmers’ Symmetry and Force Production," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-9, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Federica Gentili & Giulia Cafiero & Marco Alfonso Perrone & Massimiliano Bianco & Annamaria Salvati & Ugo Giordano & Stefani Silva Kikina & Paolo Guccione & Andrea De Zorzi & Lorenzo Galletti & Fabriz, 2021. "The Effects of Physical Inactivity and Exercise at Home in Young Patients with Congenital Heart Disease during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-10, September.
    2. André V. Brito & Diogo D. Carvalho & Pedro Fonseca & Ana S. Monteiro & Aléxia Fernandes & Jaime Fernández-Fernández & Ricardo J. Fernandes, 2022. "Shoulder Torque Production and Muscular Balance after Long and Short Tennis Points," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-13, November.
    3. Éva Bácsné Bába & Anetta Müller & Christa Pfau & Renátó Balogh & Éva Bartha & György Szabados & Zoltán Bács & Kinga Ráthonyi-Ódor & Gergely Ráthonyi, 2023. "Sedentary Behavior Patterns of the Hungarian Adult Population," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-15, February.
    4. Mateusz Ciski & Krzysztof Rząsa, 2023. "Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression in the Investigation of Local COVID-19 Anomalies Based on Population Age Structure in Poland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(10), pages 1-23, May.
    5. Viktor Bielik & Marian Grendar & Martin Kolisek, 2021. "A Possible Preventive Role of Physically Active Lifestyle during the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic; Might Regular Cold-Water Swimming and Exercise Reduce the Symptom Severity of COVID-19?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-11, July.
    6. Pedro Delgado-Floody & Luis Chirosa-Ríos & Iris Paola Guzmán-Guzmán & Claudia Andrea Vargas & Karina Sandoval-Aguilera & Felipe Caamaño-Navarrete & Francisco Guede-Rojas & Cristian Alvarez, 2022. "The Social Distance Impacts from COVID-19 Pandemic on the Development of Two Orders of a Concurrent Training Programme for Morbidly Obese Patients," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-15, October.
    7. Aurélie Goncalves & Sarah Le Vigouroux & Elodie Charbonnier, 2021. "University Students’ Lifestyle Behaviors during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Four-Wave Longitudinal Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-9, August.
    8. Yi-Ching Lee & Lindsey A. Malcein & Sojung Claire Kim, 2021. "Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Usage during COVID-19: Motivating Factors and Implications," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-14, March.
    9. Khaled Trabelsi & Achraf Ammar & Liwa Masmoudi & Omar Boukhris & Hamdi Chtourou & Bassem Bouaziz & Michael Brach & Ellen Bentlage & Daniella How & Mona Ahmed & Patrick Mueller & Notger Mueller & Hsen , 2021. "Sleep Quality and Physical Activity as Predictors of Mental Wellbeing Variance in Older Adults during COVID-19 Lockdown: ECLB COVID-19 International Online Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-18, April.
    10. Salma Azzouzi & Catherine Stratton & Laura Paulina Muñoz-Velasco & Kangxin Wang & Maryam Fourtassi & Bo-Young Hong & Rory Cooper & Joseph K. Balikuddembe & Angela Palomba & Mark Peterson & Uma Pandiya, 2022. "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors and Perceived Mental and Physical Health of People Living with Non-Communicable Diseases: An International Cross-Sectional Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-13, June.
    11. Markel Rico-González & José Pino-Ortega & Luca Paolo Ardigò, 2021. "Playing Non-Professional Football in COVID-19 Time: A Narrative Review of Recommendations, Considerations, and Best Practices," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-15, January.
    12. Mumtaz Ali Memon & Saba Shaikh & Muhammad Zeeshan Mirza & Asfia Obaid & Nuttawuth Muenjohn & Hiram Ting, 2022. "Work-From-Home in the New Normal: A Phenomenological Inquiry into Employees’ Mental Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-19, December.
    13. Sofia Bastoni & Christian Wrede & Achraf Ammar & Annemarie Braakman-Jansen & Robbert Sanderman & Andrea Gaggioli & Khaled Trabelsi & Liwa Masmoudi & Omar Boukhris & Jordan M. Glenn & Bassem Bouaziz & , 2021. "Psychosocial Effects and Use of Communication Technologies during Home Confinement in the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy and The Netherlands," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-12, March.
    14. Young-Jae Kim & Seung-Woo Kang, 2021. "Perceived Crowding and Risk Perception According to Leisure Activity Type during COVID-19 Using Spatial Proximity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-12, January.
    15. Rihab Abid & Achraf Ammar & Rami Maaloul & Nizar Souissi & Omar Hammouda, 2021. "Effect of COVID-19-Related Home Confinement on Sleep Quality, Screen Time and Physical Activity in Tunisian Boys and Girls: A Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-12, March.
    16. Krzysztof Rząsa & Mateusz Ciski, 2022. "Influence of the Demographic, Social, and Environmental Factors on the COVID-19 Pandemic—Analysis of the Local Variations Using Geographically Weighted Regression," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-26, September.
    17. Mario Mauro & Alessia Grigoletto & Maria Cristina Zambon & Marzia Bettocchi & Francesco Pegreffi & Carmela Fimognari & Laura Bragonzoni & Pasqualino Maietta Latessa & Stefania Toselli, 2022. "The Evaluation of Physical Activity Habits in North Italian People before and during COVID-19 Quarantine: A Pilot Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-16, January.
    18. Achraf Ammar & Omar Boukhris & Nicole Halfpaap & Berit Kristin Labott & Corinna Langhans & Fabian Herold & Bernhard Grässler & Patrick Müller & Khaled Trabelsi & Hamdi Chtourou & Piotr Zmijewski & Tar, 2021. "Four Weeks of Detraining Induced by COVID-19 Reverse Cardiac Improvements from Eight Weeks of Fitness-Dance Training in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-19, May.
    19. Hongyan Yu & Li Yang & Jianing Tian & Larry Austin & Yiming Tao, 2022. "The Mediation Role of Self-Control in the Association of Self-Efficacy and Physical Activity in College Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-14, September.
    20. Lilian Krist & Christina Dornquast & Thomas Reinhold & Katja Icke & Ina Danquah & Stefan N. Willich & Heiko Becher & Thomas Keil, 2021. "Predictors of Changes in Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic in a Turkish Migrant Cohort in Germany," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-13, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:9:p:5382-:d:804728. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.