THE INFLUENCE OF THE AQUATIC EXERCISES PROGRAM ON THE POSTURAL BALANCE AND GAIT IN PEOPLE WITH PARKINSON’S DISEASE

Parkinson’s disease is a debilitating disease that leads to loss of balance and postural control because of neuronal deterioration. Aquatic therapy is a more recent form of therapy for PD patients and has been shown to benefit postural stability. The aim of the study is to assess the effects of aquatic exercise program on postural balance and gait in people with Parkinson’s disease. Methods: 7 PD patients were included, aged between 50 and 70, who in II and III stages of the disease. The subjects underwent 40 sessions of aquatic therapy during 4 months, lasting 60 minutes, in a heated therapy pool. The participants were evaluated in the start and end of the interventions phase using the Berg Balance Scale (PBS), Time Up and Go (TUG), Tandem stance, and 10m walk and 3600 turn. Results: the results of this study showed an important improvement in static and dynamic balance and gait outcomes in comparison with the baseline results. Conclusion: Balance training in the aquatic environment promoted improvement on balance and gait of patients with Parkinson´s disease

Covid-19 pandemic and quality of life among Romanian athletes

The aim of this study was to analyze athletes’ quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study involved 249 athletes between 15 and 35 of age, M = 21.22, SD = 5.12. The sample was composed of eight Olympic Games medalists, three European medalists, 67 international medalists, and 63 national medalists. The instruments used were: (1) COVID-19 Anxiety Scale, (2) Athlete Quality of Life Scale, (3) Impact of Pandemic on Athletes Questionnaire, and (4) International Personality Item Pool (IPIP Anxiety, Depression, and Vulnerability Scales). The results indicate significant differences in COVID-19 anxiety depending on the sport practiced, F (9239) = 3.81, p < 0.01, showing that there were significant differences between sports. The negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic mediates the relationship between trait anxiety and the athletes’ quality of life. The percentage of mediation was 33.9%, and the indirect effect was −0.11, CI 95% (−0.18, −0.03), Z = −2.82, p < 0.01. Trait anxiety has an increasing effect on the intensity of the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, 0.23, CI 95% (.10, 0.35), Z = 3.56, p < 0.01, and the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has a decreasing effect on quality of life, −0.47, CI 95% (−0.67, −0.27), Z = −4.62, p < 0.01. Gender and age did not moderate the relationship between the negative impact of COVID-19 and athletes’ quality of life. The results of the study highlighted the impact that social isolation and quarantine have on athletes’ affective well-being

Training during the COVID-19 lockdown : knowledge, beliefs, and practices of 12,526 athletes from 142 countries and six continents

OBJECTIVE Our objective was to explore the training-related knowledge, beliefs, and practices of athletes and the influence of lockdowns in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). METHODS Athletes (n = 12,526, comprising 13% world class, 21% international, 36% national, 24% state, and 6% recreational) completed an online survey that was available from 17 May to 5 July 2020 and explored their training behaviors (training knowledge, beliefs/attitudes, and practices), including specific questions on their training intensity, frequency, and session duration before and during lockdown (March–June 2020). RESULTS Overall, 85% of athletes wanted to “maintain training,” and 79% disagreed with the statement that it is “okay to not train during lockdown,” with a greater prevalence for both in higher-level athletes. In total, 60% of athletes considered “coaching by correspondence (remote coaching)” to be sufficient (highest amongst world-class athletes). During lockdown, < 40% were able to maintain sport-specific training (e.g., long endurance [39%], interval training [35%], weightlifting [33%], most (83%) training for “general fitness and health maintenance” during lockdown. Athletes trained alone (80%) and focused on bodyweight (65%) and cardiovascular (59%) exercise/training during lockdown. Compared with before lockdown, most athletes reported reduced training frequency (from between five and seven sessions per week to four or fewer), shorter training sessions (from ≥ 60 to < 60 min), and lower sport-specific intensity (~ 38% reduction), irrespective of athlete classification. CONCLUSIONS COVID-19-related lockdowns saw marked reductions in athletic training specificity, intensity, frequency, and duration, with notable within-sample differences (by athlete classification). Higher classification athletes had the strongest desire to “maintain” training and the greatest opposition to “not training” during lockdowns. These higher classification athletes retained training specificity to a greater degree than others, probably because of preferential access to limited training resources. More higher classification athletes considered “coaching by correspondence” as sufficient than did lower classification athletes. These lockdown-mediated changes in training were not conducive to maintenance or progression of athletes’ physical capacities and were also likely detrimental to athletes’ mental health. These data can be used by policy makers, athletes, and their multidisciplinary teams to modulate their practice, with a degree of individualization, in the current and continued pandemic-related scenario. Furthermore, the data may drive training-related educational resources for athletes and their multidisciplinary teams. Such upskilling would provide athletes with evidence to inform their training modifications in response to germane situations (e.g., COVID related, injury, and illness).A specific funding was provided by the National Sports Institute of Malaysia for this study.The National Sports Institute of Malaysia.https://www.springer.com/journal/40279am2023Sports Medicin

COVID-19 lockdown : a global study investigating athletes’ sport classification and sex on training practices

PURPOSE : To investigate differences in athletes’ knowledge, beliefs, and training practices during COVID-19 lockdowns with reference to sport classification and sex. This work extends an initial descriptive evaluation focusing on athlete classification. METHODS : Athletes (12,526; 66% male; 142 countries) completed an online survey (May–July 2020) assessing knowledge, beliefs, and practices toward training. Sports were classified as team sports (45%), endurance (20%), power/technical (10%), combat (9%), aquatic (6%), recreational (4%), racquet (3%), precision (2%), parasports (1%), and others (1%). Further analysis by sex was performed. RESULTS : During lockdown, athletes practiced body-weight-based exercises routinely (67% females and 64% males), ranging from 50% (precision) to 78% (parasports). More sport-specific technical skills were performed in combat, parasports, and precision (∼50%) than other sports (∼35%). Most athletes (range: 50% [parasports] to 75% [endurance]) performed cardiorespiratory training (trivial sex differences). Compared to prelockdown, perceived training intensity was reduced by 29% to 41%, depending on sport (largest decline: ∼38% in team sports, unaffected by sex). Some athletes (range: 7%–49%) maintained their training intensity for strength, endurance, speed, plyometric, change-of-direction, and technical training. Athletes who previously trained ≥5 sessions per week reduced their volume (range: 18%–28%) during lockdown. The proportion of athletes (81%) training ≥60 min/session reduced by 31% to 43% during lockdown. Males and females had comparable moderate levels of training knowledge (56% vs 58%) and beliefs/attitudes (54% vs 56%). CONCLUSIONS : Changes in athletes’ training practices were sport-specific, with few or no sex differences. Team-based sports were generally more susceptible to changes than individual sports. Policy makers should provide athletes with specific training arrangements and educational resources to facilitate remote and/or home-based training during lockdown-type events.https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/ijspp/ijspp-overview.xmlhj2023Sports Medicin

COVID-19 Pandemic and Quality of Life among Romanian Athletes

The aim of this study was to analyze athletes’ quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study involved 249 athletes between 15 and 35 of age, M = 21.22, SD = 5.12. The sample was composed of eight Olympic Games medalists, three European medalists, 67 international medalists, and 63 national medalists. The instruments used were: (1) COVID-19 Anxiety Scale, (2) Athlete Quality of Life Scale, (3) Impact of Pandemic on Athletes Questionnaire, and (4) International Personality Item Pool (IPIP Anxiety, Depression, and Vulnerability Scales). The results indicate significant differences in COVID-19 anxiety depending on the sport practiced, F (9239) = 3.81, p &lt; 0.01, showing that there were significant differences between sports. The negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic mediates the relationship between trait anxiety and the athletes’ quality of life. The percentage of mediation was 33.9%, and the indirect effect was −0.11, CI 95% (−0.18, −0.03), Z = −2.82, p &lt; 0.01. Trait anxiety has an increasing effect on the intensity of the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, 0.23, CI 95% (.10, 0.35), Z = 3.56, p &lt; 0.01, and the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has a decreasing effect on quality of life, −0.47, CI 95% (−0.67, −0.27), Z = −4.62, p &lt; 0.01. Gender and age did not moderate the relationship between the negative impact of COVID-19 and athletes’ quality of life. The results of the study highlighted the impact that social isolation and quarantine have on athletes’ affective well-being

Coping strategies of footballers who have recovered from COVID-19 in five European countries

In the realm of sports performance, coping skills play a pivotal role, particularly within the stressinducing environment of sports. The aim of this research was to explore differences between football athletes who had tested positive for COVID-19 and athletes who had not contracted the virus in terms of their utilization of coping strategies. Additionally, differences among countries were investigated, in the case of football players who had, at some point, battled COVID-19. A total of 147 (one hundred and forty-seven) male football players from five European countries - Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania – took part in this study. To assess coping skills, we employed the Brief COPE questionnaire, which encompassed fourteen coping strategies, grouped into three categories: emotion-oriented coping strategies, problem/task-oriented strategies, and dysfunctional coping strategies. Using the Dwass-Steel-Critchlow-Fligner pairwise comparison test, the differences between the five countries were scrutinized, starting from the three dependent variables (the grouped coping strategies). Notably, football athletes from Poland and Romania exhibited a higher frequency of employing emotion-focused coping strategies (during the pandemic). Conversely, athletes from Italy leaned towards employing problem-focused strategies more frequently. No significant differences were observed in terms of dysfunctional coping strategies among football players who had battled COVID-19 across the five countries. We discussed the frequency of using coping strategies among football athletes who reported no infection with the SARS-COV-2 virus (up to the 4th wave of the pandemic) and those who had experienced COVID-19. The findings are of considerable interest to specialists, raising awareness on the coping skills employed by footballers during the pandemic

Job Insecurity and Work Meaning among Romanian Sports Coaches

The present study analyzed the relationships among material difficulties, job insecurity, work meaning and the mental health of sports coaches. Participants for this study were 200 coaches (120 men and 80 women, aged between 18 and 60 years, M = 41.04, SD = 8.71). The instruments used were (a) The Difficulties List, (b) Qualitative Job Insecurity, (c) Quantitative Job Insecurity, (d) The Work and Meaning Inventory, Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales. Statistical analysis was performed through SPSS 24. The results obtained by three multiple mediations showed that material difficulties were not directly associated with depression, anxiety, and stress. Although qualitative job insecurity mediates the relationship between material difficulties and mental health (&beta; = 0.14, p &lt; 0.01 for depression, &beta; = 0.17, p &lt; 0.01 for anxiety, and &beta; = 0.14, p &lt; 0.01 for stress) quantitative job insecurity and work meaning do not mediate this relationship but had significant direct effects. The conclusions of the study led to the need for material and psychological support for coaches to have a meaningful activity, so that they could achieve significant performance with their athletes

Job Insecurity and Work Meaning among Romanian Sports Coaches

The present study analyzed the relationships among material difficulties, job insecurity, work meaning and the mental health of sports coaches. Participants for this study were 200 coaches (120 men and 80 women, aged between 18 and 60 years, M = 41.04, SD = 8.71). The instruments used were (a) The Difficulties List, (b) Qualitative Job Insecurity, (c) Quantitative Job Insecurity, (d) The Work and Meaning Inventory, Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales. Statistical analysis was performed through SPSS 24. The results obtained by three multiple mediations showed that material difficulties were not directly associated with depression, anxiety, and stress. Although qualitative job insecurity mediates the relationship between material difficulties and mental health (β = 0.14, p p p < 0.01 for stress) quantitative job insecurity and work meaning do not mediate this relationship but had significant direct effects. The conclusions of the study led to the need for material and psychological support for coaches to have a meaningful activity, so that they could achieve significant performance with their athletes