ELECTROMYOGRAPHY PATTERNS CHANGES AT DIFFERENT CATEGORIES OF PROFESSIONAL SPORTSMEN

Object of our paper was to study the electromyography activity at different categories of professional sportsmen (handball players and volleyball players),tocompare the obtained results and to emphasizedspecific electromyography patterns to each studied sports. Group of study was formed of 24 male professional sportsmen, 11 handball players and 13 volleyball sportsmen, with at least 6 years experience, in either one of the practiced sports, homogeneous regarding ages, heights and weights. Were recorded EMG to allathletes, together withmechanogram,during maximum isometric contractions of fingers flexors from both hands. Weused silver surface electrodes and the EMG BIOPAC MP 150 two channels device, with two active electrodes for each channel, the reference onebeing placed on forearm distal extremity, which was connected to a PC Pentium IV, whose program processed the data offered by BIOPAC system. To improve the interpretation of the obtained parameters, they were divided in 4 categories: of frequency, of mechanogram, of time and mixed and for each one of the parameters, were calculated other characteristic indexes. For most of the mechanogram parameters, handball players presented the highest values and the frequency parameters had superior values for volleyball players. So, the obtained EMG patterns were different, specific to the type of physical effort, that characterized each studied sports and proved to be an important contributor to sportive performances increasing, by helping the trainers to set adequate professional training programs for each athlete

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

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