Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on endurance capacity of elite handball players

Fikenzer, Sven; Fikenzer, Kati; Laufs, Ulrich; Falz, Roberto; Pietrek, Hagen; Hepp, Pierre

doi:10.23736/s0022-4707.20.11501-9

Cited by 37 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 12 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Although this was not exactly the case during the lockdown scenario, the home training programmes probably failed to provide a sufficient stimulus to maintain aerobic capacity in elite handball players. This was also previously described by Fikenzer et al [ 14 ], who found that endurance capacity, measured by the maximum mean velocity achieved in a multistage 20-metre shuttle run test, was diminished in most elite handball players from a given team due to the unspecific and inadequate stimuli provided by a home-based training programme during the COVID-19 lockdown. Dauty et al [ 32 ] obtained similar results with the yo-yo test in young football players.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

“…In fact, the home training volumes were approximately 40% lower than those achieved during the regular season immediately before the lockdown. Moreover, our players only received running-specific stimuli during the last two weeks of the lockdown (see Figure 1 ), reinforcing the notion that the lack of training specificity also contributed, to some extent, to the loss of aerobic capacity [ 14 , 32 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

“…The difficulties of finding optimal spaces to train or having adequate training material and the uncertainty as to when competitions would resume generated frustration and demotivation in many athletes during this period [ 13 ]. Individualized work routines were planned to reduce this training handicap as much as possible, and to counter lack of motivation, poor nutrition and resting issues that may affect the athletes’ ability to maintain proper habits and routines [ 10 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. In many cases material was provided to the players and group sessions were held by videoconference [ 10 , 17 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, there is a lack of information regarding the capacity of home training programmes to preserve general fitness levels (lower limb explosive strength and aerobic capacity) in top handball players during the COVID-19 lockdown. To the best of our knowledge, only one previous study [ 14 ] has investigated the effects of a given training programme in the aerobic capacity of elite handball players. Such studies might provide valuable insights about the real impact of home training programmes to prevent detrimental effects on the general fitness of elite handball players.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

The effects of COVID-19 lockdown on jumping performance and aerobic capacity in elite handball players

Font¹,

Irurtia²,

Gutiérrez³

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The aim of this research was to analyse the capacity of a home-based training programme to preserve aerobic capacity and jumping performance in top-level handball players during the COVID-19 lockdown. Eleven top-level male handball players from the same team participated in the study. A submaximal shuttle run test and a counter-movement jump test were used to measure the players’ aerobic fitness and lower limb explosive strength, respectively. A 9-week home-based training programme was followed during lockdown. Pre-test measurements were assessed before the pandemic on 29 January 2020 and ended on 18 May 2020. Moderate significant mean heart rate increases were found in the late stages of the submaximal shuttle run test after the lockdown (stage 5, 8.6%, P = 0.015; ES = 0.873; stage 6, 7.7%, P = 0.020; ES = 0.886; stage 7, 6.4%, P = 0.019; ES = 0.827). Moderate significant blood lactate increases were observed immediately after the submaximal shuttle run test following the lockdown (30.1%, P = 0.016; ES = 0.670). In contrast, no changes were found in jump performance. A structured home-based training programme during the COVID-19 lockdown preserved lower limb explosive strength but was an insufficient stimulus to maintain aerobic capacity in top-level handball players.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The effects of COVID-19 lockdown on jumping performance and aerobic capacity in elite handball players

Font¹,

Irurtia²,

Gutiérrez³

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This discrepancy in physical intensity during match between the Japanese national handball team and the previous data [20,23,24] evaluated before the COVID-19 pandemic may be attributed to the prolonged activity restrictions experienced by the Japanese players before rebooting the training camp. Similar adverse effects of the COVID-19-related activity restriction on athletes' cardiovascular performance have been reported in many sports [25][26][27]. Most of our athlete cohort resumed their regular handball training step-by-step after the end of state of emergency in Japan.…”

Section: Heart Rate and Physical Intensity Evaluation Using The Wearable Sensorsupporting

confidence: 71%

Successful Reboot of High-Performance Sporting Activities by Japanese National Women’s Handball Team in Tokyo, 2020 during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Initiative Using the Japan Sports–Cyber Physical System (JS–CPS) of the Sports Research Innovation Project (SRIP)

Ogasawara

Hamaguchi

Hasegawa

et al. 2021

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted sporting activities across the world. However, practical training strategies for athletes to reduce the risk of infection during the pandemic have not been definitively studied. The purpose of this report was to provide an overview of the challenges we encountered during the reboot of high-performance sporting activities of the Japanese national handball team during the 3rd wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Tokyo, Japan. Twenty-nine Japanese national women’s handball players and 24 staff participated in the study. To initiate the reboot of their first training camp after COVID-19 stay-home social policy, we conducted: web-based health-monitoring, SARS-CoV-2 screening with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, real-time automated quantitative monitoring of social distancing on court using a moving image-based artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm, physical intensity evaluation with wearable heart rate (HR) and acceleration sensors, and a self-reported online questionnaire. The training camp was conducted successfully with no COVID-19 infections. The web-based health monitoring and the frequent PCR testing with short turnaround times contributed remarkably to early detection of athletes’ health problems and to risk screening. During handball, AI-based on-court social-distance monitoring revealed key time-dependent spatial metrics to define player-to-player proximity. This information facilitated appropriate on- and off-game distancing behavior for teammates. Athletes regularly achieved around 80% of maximum HR during training, indicating anticipated improvements in achieving their physical intensities. Self-reported questionnaires related to the COVID management in the training camp revealed a sense of security among the athletes that allowed them to focus singularly on their training. The challenges discussed herein provided us considerable knowledge about creating and managing a safe environment for high-performing athletes in the COVID-19 pandemic via the Japan Sports–Cyber Physical System (JS–CPS) of the Sports Research Innovation Project (SRIP, Japan Sports Agency, Tokyo, Japan). This report is envisioned to provide informed decisions to coaches, trainers, policymakers from the sports federations in creating targeted, infection-free, sporting and training environments.

show abstract

Running Activities in Times of COVID-19 Pandemic

Herrero¹,

Juan²

2022

The Running Athlete

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on endurance capacity of elite handball players

Cited by 37 publications

References 12 publications

The effects of COVID-19 lockdown on jumping performance and aerobic capacity in elite handball players

The effects of COVID-19 lockdown on jumping performance and aerobic capacity in elite handball players

Successful Reboot of High-Performance Sporting Activities by Japanese National Women’s Handball Team in Tokyo, 2020 during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Initiative Using the Japan Sports–Cyber Physical System (JS–CPS) of the Sports Research Innovation Project (SRIP)

Running Activities in Times of COVID-19 Pandemic

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About