The Impact of Reduced Training Activity of Elite Kickboxers on Physical Fitness, Body Build, and Performance during Competitions

Abstract

Background: Kickboxing is a combat sport where athletes require constant supervision of a coach. The outbreak of the pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has led to a crisis in many sectors, including sport. Global efforts to limit the spread of the pathogen resulted in temporary lockdowns that limited sporting activity, thus deteriorating athletes’ physical fitness. Methods: The participants included 20 kickboxers competing at the international level. Their physical fitness was evaluated based on the test developed by the International Committee on the Standardization of Physical Fitness Test (ICSPFT) and their body build was assessed using Tanita BC601 body composition monitor and a body height meter. Differences between physical fitness before the COVID-19 outbreak and during the pandemic after re-opening sports facilities were evaluated. Results: Temporary closing of sports clubs has led to the increase in body mass of the participants by 2.65 kg on average and significantly deteriorated physical fitness. Conclusions: Temporary closing of sports clubs and restrictions on physical activity aimed at containing the spread of COVID-19 caused a significant reduction in physical fitness and increased body mass of the participants. This is likely to cause worse performance in the nearest competitions and have a negative impact on the athletes’ health status and immunity to diseases.

Physiological Responses and Bout Analysis in Elite Kickboxers During International K1 Competitions

“…The indicators also allow for the identification of certain gaps in training. In this study, the level of the indicators of technical and tactical skills was at a high level compared with recent studies conducted by Ambrozy et al (2021). All indicators were well above the average compared with the highest competitive disposition presented by the authors.…”

“…Three parameters (i.e., the efficiency of the attack, the effectiveness of the attack, and the activeness of the attack) were used to assess the bouts. The level of activeness is measured by the number of techniques used (Ambrozy et al, 2021).…”

Impact of the SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus Pandemic on Physical Activity, Mental Health and Quality of Life in Professional Athletes—A Systematic Review

“…After the removal of duplicated papers (48), studies were left for verification. The final inclusion criterion for the review was met by 14 articles [16,[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. Details were presented in the PRISMA diagram [19] (Figure 1).…”

“…The female group (n = 2742) represented the majority of subjects (51%), while the male group (n = 2692) represented a total of 49%. The athletes' age was included in 13 articles [16,[24][25][26][27][28][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. Only seven studies [16,[25][26][27][28]30,32] included a comparison of the results obtained in times before and during the pandemic, while only one research article [30] characterized the results in relation to the different phases of the pandemic.…”

Direct and Stress-Buffering Effects of COVID-19-Related Changes in Exercise Activity on the Well-Being of German Sport Students

“…Most studies have reported an overall decrease in exercise engagement during the pandemic (e.g., [ 8 ]). Some researchers have warned that the forced stop period might result in detraining, related physiological training losses [ 9 ], and negative psychological effects [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ], particularly among highly active individuals who are known to experience severe deteriorations of well-being in response to exercise deprivation [ 15 , 16 ]. However, more detailed observations show that often, a significant proportion of the samples was able to maintain or even increase their exercise engagement during the current pandemic [ 12 , 13 , 17 ].…”