Lower-limb muscle contractile properties, explosive power and the subjective response of elite soccer players to the COVID-19 lockdown

Paravlić, Armin (author), Šimunič, Boštjan (author), Pišot, Saša (author), Kleva, Matej (author), Teraž, Kaja (author), Vogrin, Matjaž (author), Marušič, Uroš (author), Pišot, Rado (author)

The present study examined the effects of the lockdown period on basic anthropometric measures, countermovement jumping performance, skeletal muscle contractile properties derived from tensiomyography (TMG), injury incidence, and self-assessed general well-being in elite soccer players. A total of 266 players were assessed before (PRE) and 32 players were reassessed 11 days after (POST) the COVID-19 period. Significant changes in the TMG parameters were observed POST compared to PRE: contraction time (Tc) increased from 6% to 50% in vastus lateralis [VL] (p = 0.009) and biceps femoris [BF] (p < 0.001), respectively; whereas radial displacement (Dm) increased for 19% in BF (p = 0.036) and 17% in VL (p < 0.001), respectively. Jumping performance remained unchanged from PRE to POST In addition, athletes rated the lockdown period as a positive event and felt psychologically better during the lockdown, primarily because they spent more time with family members and friends. Although there were no differences in any of the variables describing lower limb muscle power following the two-month lockdown, the altered contractile properties of the assessed muscles suggest suboptimal conditioning of the football players.

• Language: English
• Keywords: football, male football, power, explosive power, tensiomyography, coronavirus, covid-19, pandemics, lockdown, CMJ, SJ, SARS-CoV-2
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FŠ - Faculty of Sport
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2022
• Number of pages: 13 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 19, iss. 1, art. 474
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-136756
• UDC: 796.012.11
• ISSN on article: 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19010474
• COBISS.SI-ID: 92186115
• Publication date in RUL: 19.05.2022

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: International journal of environmental research and public health
• Shortened title: Int. j. environ. res. public health
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 1660-4601
• COBISS.SI-ID: 1818965

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.
• Licensing start date: 01.01.2022

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: nogomet, moški nogomet, moč, eksplozivna moč, tensiomiografija, koronavirus, covid-19, pandemije, ukrepi

Projects

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Project number: L5-8245
• Name: Razvoj modela spremljanja športnih poškodb za učinkovitejšo preventivo, diagnostiko in rehabilitacijo