Efeito agudo do exercício pliométrico no desempenho de nadadores nos 50m livres

Abstract

Speed swimming is a sport that requires high levels of strength and power from start to finish. Gold can be decided by thousandths of a second. Therefore, any strategy that increases performance is important in the athlete's training. Post-activation potentiation (PAP) and/or post-activation performance enhancement (PAPE) are strategies that aim to temporarily increase performance in the sports environment after a conditioning activity. However, there is heterogeneity regarding the PAP protocols available in the literature. The aim of this study was to map out which PAP protocols are available in the literature for swimmers, and what the main results found in the literature are. A search was carried out in the databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus) until October 2023. The study selection process was carried out by two blinded and independent reviewers, who searched for randomized or non-randomized acute experimental studies. Twenty-five studies were included in this review. The sample consisted of 493 swimmers, 74% men and 26% women. Ages ranged from 13 to 23 years and length of experience from 2 to 12 years. With these results in parallel, a non-randomized clinical trial was developed. The sample consisted of thirteen participants (11 men and 2 women) aged between 25 and 35 from the Rio Grande do Norte Fire Brigade (CBM-RN) who were part of the aquatic rescue group and took part in regional competitions. All the participants underwent the control and experimental conditions 48 hours apart. There were no significant differences between the control condition and PAPE in the 50-m performance analyzed using a stopwatch and video camera (p = 0.552 and p = 0.448, respectively). For the 15-m, there was no difference in the assessments made using the stopwatch (p = 0.055), but there was a significant effect in the assessments made using the video camera (p = 0.016). The results of this study allow us to conclude that it is possible to find various protocols for swimmers. However, only a few protocols actually increased swimming performance, such as squats, half squats, lunges, medice ball throws, box jumps, resistance sprints in the pool and exercises performed in water and on land in combination. It can be concluded that the post-activation performance improvement protocol using plyometric exercise significantly improved initial swimming performance. It is recommended that further studies be carried out with a larger sample in order to better understand the application of performance improvement protocols in swimming with attention to intensity, volume and recovery time.