Inter-Limb Symmetry at Simultaneous and Alternated Arms Flexion by the Elbow during Water Fitness Sessions

Abstract

The aim was to compare the inter-limb symmetry between alternated and simultaneous arms flexion during water fitness sessions. Twenty-three elderly women were recruited to perform flexion by the elbow with different mechanical strategies: (a) simultaneous and (b) alternated. An incremental protocol was used, with four music cadences, starting at 105 beats per minute up to 150. The peak force of dominant and non-dominant upper-limbs was retrieved. A symmetry index (SI, %) was also used to quantify coordination. There were significant variations in force produced by the dominant and non-dominant limbs in most of the cadences in the alternated or simultaneous actions. Differences with a medium effect between upper-limbs were shown when moving simultaneously indicating that an alternated movement can be a more proper strategy to work with. Despite that, both strategies seemed to be characterized by an asymmetric pattern (SI from 20 to 30%), requiring full attention from water fitness practitioners.

Force Production and Coordination from Older Women in Water Fitness Exercises

“…Since participants presented different heights, the water surface boundary for each participant was modified and controlled by the water depth of the pool. The participants performed a 3 minutes (min) warm-up before the assessments, as reported elsewhere [17].…”

“…Verbal and visual cues were given by an expert water fitness instructor. The test ended when [16,17] (i) the participant decreased the amplitude of the movement, (ii) failed to maintain the music cadence, or (iii) finalized the 30 s trial.…”

“…To date, a few studies used pressure sensors to measured propulsive forces during water exercises. In fact, those studies recruited younger adults as subjects [16] or compared alternated with simultaneous actions in standing positions [17]. At least for young adults (21.23 ± 1.51 years old), Santos et al [18] noted that the musical cadence of 135 beats per minute (b•min −1 ) seems to be appropriate to maintain the symmetric motion.…”

Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde: Investigação e Prática II

“…For instance, water pressure sensors allow directly measure of the upper- (Pereira et al, 2015;Tsunokawa et al, 2019) and lowerlimbs' (Bartolomeu et al, 2022) in-water forces in a more validity ecological environment (Santos et al, 2022). To date, just a few papers used pressure sensors to acquire in-water forces during the freely motion (Santos et al, 2019;Santos et al, 2020b;Santos et al, 2021b). However, such forces were mainly obtained using older women (Santos et al, 2020b;Santos et al, 2021b) or clinical population during the water fitness exercises at maximum velocity (Becker & Havriluk, 2006).…”

Identical Limb Dynamics for Unilateral Impairments through Biomechanical Equivalence

“…It involves many internal forces and torques that are applied through multiple muscles and joints to create a desired walking trajectory. Developing mathematical models of human walking can play a critical role in discovering new possibilities for healthcare, rehabilitation, and testing many configurations that may not be possible in real experiments [1,2].…”