Relationship between the colors of goggles and shoulder muscle strength in swimmers

Abstract

Biography: Obtained a doctor of medicine on the theme of verifying the effect of therapeutic exercise in osteoarthritis. Rio Olympic games Artistic Swimming Japan national team trainer. I am interested in improvement of physical performance in swimming and cognitive science applied to sports. Background: Almost all studies on color reveal its effects on calculation tasks and work efficiency, and there are few fundamental studies on individual sports performance. Recently, some reports have indicated that unconsciously processed visual information affects the performance of sports. In this study, we focused on muscle exertion, which is directly related to sports performance, and studied the effect of different colors of goggles on muscle exertion of the upper limbs. Methods: Sixty-eight collegiate swimmers (mean age 19.4 ± 1.0 years) were recruited. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants. Subjects were made to randomly wear four differently colored goggles (red, blue, green, and transparent), and the upper limb muscle strength was measured using a hand-held dynamometer. The upper limb muscle strength was measured while lying down on a bed on the ground, and the maximum isometric muscle strength at the catch position, push position, and finish position were measured based on the phase separation of pull motions during swimming. SPSS was used for statistical processing, and the significance level was set at 5%. Results: The muscle strength of the catch position, push position, and finish position with the red goggles was 20.7 ± 5.8 kgf, 20.5 ± 6.2 kgf, and 11.7 ± 2.9 kgf, respectively. Similarly, muscle strength with the blue, green and transparent goggles was 20.5 ± 6.0 kgf, 20.5 ± 5.6 kgf, and 11.6 ± 3.1 kgf; 20.7 ± 5.8 kgf, 21.0 ± 6.0 kgf, and 11.4 ± 3.0 kgf ; and 20.6 ± 6.1 kgf, 20.4 ± 6.0 kgf, and 11.5 ± 3.1 kgf, respectively. Statistical analysis showed significant difference in the muscle strength between green goggles and transparent goggles at the push position (p < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference in the other colors or positions. Discussion: Several studies have reported that the color of uniforms affects the winning rate and performance in sports (Hopkin, 2005). Red color has been found to be advantageous, possibly because it increases the fighting spirit associated with the secretion of testosterone. In this study, it was not possible to prove that red is a best color for muscular exertion. However, this study suggests that the color of goggles has some influence on muscular exertion in a specific limb position. Further studies are needed to study the effects of colors on hormones, autonomic nerves, and brain activity. Conflicts of interest: This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers 19K11496.