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COVID-19 Lockdown: A Global Study Investigating the Effect of Athletes’ Sport Classification and Sex on Training Practices

Washif, J.A.; Sandbakk, Ø.; Seiler, S.; Haugen, T.; Farooq, A.; Quarrie, K.; Janse van Rensburg, D.C.; Krug, I.; Verhagen, E; Wong, DP; Mujika, I; Cortis, C; Haddad, M; Ahmadian, O.; Al Jufaili, M.; Al-Horani, R. A.; Al-Mohannadi, A. S.; Aloui, A.; Ammar, A.; Arifi, F.; Aziz, A. R.; Batuev, M.; Beaven, Christopher Martyn; Beneke, R.; Bici, A.; Bishnoi, P.; Bogwasi, L.; Bok, D.; Boukhris, O.; Boullosa, D.; Bragazzi, N.; Brito, J.; Palacios Cartagena, R. P.; Chaouachi, A.; Cheung, S. S.; Chtourou, H.; Cosma, G.; Debevec, T.; DeLang, M. D.; Dellal, A.; Dönmez, G.; Driss, T.; Peña Duque, J. D.; Eirale, C.; Elloumi, M.; Foster, C.; Franchini, E.; Fusco, A.; Galy, O.; Gastin, PB; Gill, Nicholas D.; Girard, O.; Gregov, C.; Halson, S.; Hammouda, O.; Hanzlíková, I.; Hassanmirzaei, B.; Hébert-Losier, Kim; Muñoz Helú, H.; Herrera-Valenzuela, T.; Hettinga, FJ; Holtzhausen, L.; Hue, O.; Dello Iacono, A.; Ihalainen, JK; James, C.; Joseph, S.; Kamoun, K.; Khaled, M.; Khalladi, K.; Kim, KJ; Kok, L. -Y.; MacMillan, L.; Mataruna-Dos-Santos, LJ; Matsunaga, R.; Memishi, S.; Millet, GP; Moussa-Chamari, I.; Musa, DI; Nguyen, HMT; Nikolaidis, PT; Owen, A.; Padulo, J.; Pagaduan, JC; Perera, NP; Pérez-Gómez, J.; Pillay, L.; Popa, A.; Pudasaini, A.; Rabbani, A; Rahayu, T.; Romdhani, M; Salamh, P.; Sarkar, A-S; Schillinger, A.; Setyawati, H.; Shrestha, N; Suraya, F; Tabben, M.; Trabelsi, K.; Urhausen, A.; Valtonen, M; Weber, J; Whiteley, R.; Zrane, A.; Zerguini, Y.; Zmijewski, P.; Ben Saad, H.; Pyne, DB; Taylor, L.; Chamari, K.
Abstract
Purpose: To investigate differences in athletes’ knowledge, beliefs, and training practices during COVID-19 lockdowns with reference to sport classification and sex. This work extends an initial descriptive evaluation focusing on athlete classification. Methods: Athletes (12,526; 66% male; 142 countries) completed an online survey (May–July 2020) assessing knowledge, beliefs, and practices toward training. Sports were classified as team sports (45%), endurance (20%), power/technical (10%), combat (9%), aquatic (6%), recreational (4%), racquet (3%), precision (2%), parasports (1%), and others (1%). Further analysis by sex was performed. Results: During lockdown, athletes practiced body-weight-based exercises routinely (67% females and 64% males), ranging from 50% (precision) to 78% (parasports). More sport-specific technical skills were performed in combat, parasports, and precision (∼50%) than other sports (∼35%). Most athletes (range: 50% [parasports] to 75% [endurance]) performed cardiorespiratory training (trivial sex differences). Compared to prelockdown, perceived training intensity was reduced by 29% to 41%, depending on sport (largest decline: ∼38% in team sports, unaffected by sex). Some athletes (range: 7%–49%) maintained their training intensity for strength, endurance, speed, plyometric, change-of-direction, and technical training. Athletes who previously trained ≥5 sessions per week reduced their volume (range: 18%–28%) during lockdown. The proportion of athletes (81%) training ≥60 min/session reduced by 31% to 43% during lockdown. Males and females had comparable moderate levels of training knowledge (56% vs 58%) and beliefs/attitudes (54% vs 56%). Conclusions: Changes in athletes’ training practices were sport-specific, with few or no sex differences. Team-based sports were generally more susceptible to changes than individual sports. Policy makers should provide athletes with specific training arrangements and educational resources to facilitate remote and/or home-based training during lockdown-type events.
Type
Journal Article
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Citation
Date
2022-08-01
Publisher
Human Kinetics
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This is an author’s accepted version of an article published in the journal: International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance. © 2022 Human Kinetics.