Is shoulder rotators strength and balance affected by a single swim practice?

• Autor(a) principal: Batalha, Nuno
• Data de Publicação: 2017
• Outros Autores: Parraça, José, Louro, Hugo, Conceição, Ana, Silva, António, Marinho, Daniel, Costa, Mário
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10314/3809

Introduction: Dry-land training programs that focus on preventing sShoulder rotators injuriesy are essential for swimmers. Normally, training routines comprise strength programs before (Batalha et al., 2015) or after (Ramsi et al, 2004) the swimming session. However, it is unclear if one swimming session will induce fatigue and impair muscle strength and balance. This study aimed to analyse the acute effects in shoulder rotators strength and muscle balance after a standard swim practice. Methods: Seventy-two male swimmers (16.28 ± 1.55 years; 63.97 ± 6.85 Kg; 174.1 ± 7.89 cm) performed strength tests targeting both shoulders before and after a standardized swim practice (with 4600m of total swimming volume in long course swimming pool). A microFET2 hand-held dynamometer (Hoggan Scientific LLC, Utah) was placed proximal to the ulnar styloid process on the posterior surface of the forearm to assess external (ER) and internal (IR) rotators strength. Maximal isometric strength and the ER/IR ratios were assessed in prone position, as previously described (Ramsi et al. 2014). Prior to this tests we performed a test-retest in order to calculate the interclass correlation coefficients (ICC) of the IR and ER evaluation. All ICC results were high (0.90). Results: No significant differences were found between strength values before and after the swim practice. Conclusion: The shoulder rotators strength, and balance seem not be impaired after performing a standard swim session. Our results suggest that coaches can plan a shoulder rotators dry-land strength training and/or rehabilitation program instantly after the water training.