Lower-Limb Muscle Contractile Properties, Explosive Power and the Subjective Response of Elite Soccer Players to the COVID-19 Lockdown.

Armin H Paravlic,Rado Pisot,Matej Kleva,Uros Marusic,Matjaz Vogrin,Bostjan Simunic,Sasa Pisot,Kaja Teraz

doi:10.3390/ijerph19010474

Abstract

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.

Highlights

The WHO recommended the adoption of numerous public health measures to halt the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak
266 players were examined at PRE, a subsample of 32 players were measured at post-COVID-19 lockdown (POST)
The main reasons for not being able to train at 100% of the strength and conditioning programme, given by their coach, were reported as follows: 40% reported training monotony and 12.5% reported a lack of motivation, while others reported a lack of conditions for adequate training

Summary

Introduction

The WHO recommended the adoption of numerous public health measures to halt the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak. These preventive measures mainly included lockdowns of cities, social distancing, and shutting down commercial services (e.g., trading, entertainment, sports and recreational facilities) to avoid social gatherings and diminish the chances of human-to-human virus transmission [1]. In most of the countries that were affected in the first wave of COVID-19 outbreak training schedules were compromised, especially in team sports and exercise with ball, resulting in training loads and muscular burden that could influence susceptibility for injuries and impair performance [2,3]. Athletes were confined and obliged to train at home no matter what type of sport they played. Slovenian soccer clubs provided their players with home-based training programs prescribed by their strength and conditioning coaches

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