Inspiratory Muscle Function In Elite Male Field Hockey Players

Abstract

Inspiratory Muscle Function has been studied in many sports howver there are few studies that investigate the phenomenum in team based game such as Filed Hockey. PURPOSE: To determine whether inspiratory muscle fatigue is induced via a regulation field hockey match and what affect a 5 week inspiratory muscle training programme will have on inspiratory muscle function in elite male field hockey players. METHOD: Baseline pulmonary function (FVC, FEV1.0) and maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP) were measured for all players (n=16). MIP was then measured at three separate time points (pre-game[Pre], at half-time [HT] and post-game [Post])relating to a standard regulation league match (English National Hockey League Premier Division). The sixteen players were then split randomly into training (n=8) and placebo groups (n=8).Each group underwent a 5 week training programme, the intervention group (IMT) training consisted of 30 inspiratory efforts, twice a day at approximately 50% of MIP while the placebo group (PG) performed 60 inspiratory efforts one a day at approximately 15% of MIP. The players were informed that each protocol was measuring Inspiratory Muscle function and that the two protocols were going to be compared. All players took part with full informed consent and all procedures were as accepted by the institutional ethics committee. RESULTS: There was a significant drop in inspiratory muscle function, as shown by a reduce MIP when comparing the Pre results to the Post results (p<0.05) which indicates a level of fatigue occurs throughout a match. With training a 25% increase in MIP occurred for the IMT group while a there was no change in the PG. However upon re-testing there was no significant difference between the two training groups when inspiratory muscle fatigue was looked at throughout a second competitive match. CONCLUSIONS: An elite level male filed hockey match can induce inspiratory muscle fatigue and these same players can increase their MIP with training. Many studies have looked at various forms of inspiratory muscle training in different sports however this is one of the very few studies to show that games based sports also induce inspiratory muscle fatigue.