Damiano Formenti

This study aimed to identify the relationship between dryland tests and swimming performance in elite Paralympic swimmers. Fifteen competitive swimmers (age: 27.4 ± 5.4 years, height: 1.70 ± 6.8 m, body mass: 67.9 ± 9.2 kg; 9 males, 6 females) performed a lat pull-down and a bench press incremental load test to determine maximum power (Pmax), the strength corresponding to maximum power (F@Pmax), and the barbell velocity corresponding to maximum power (V@Pmax) from the force–velocity and power–velocity profiles. These outcomes were also normalized by the athlete’s body mass. Swimming performance was carried out from the best result in a 100 m freestyle race registered during an international competition. Lat pull-down F@Pmax was significantly associated with 100 m freestyle chronometric time (ρ = −0.56, p < 0.05), and lat pull-down V@Pmax presented a relationship with mean swimming velocity (ρ = 0.71, p < 0.01). Similarly, bench press F@Pmax and the normalized F@Pmax were significantly related to the mean swimming velocity (ρ = −0.51, ρ = −0.62, p < 0.05). Stepwise multiple regression showed that lat pull-down V@Pmax, bench press normF@Pmax, and V@Pmax accounted for 40.6%, 42.3%, and 65.8% (p < 0.05) of the mean swimming velocity variance. These preliminary results highlighted that simple dryland tests, although with a moderate relationship, are significantly associated with 100 m freestyle swimming performance in elite Paralympic swimmers.

Intense sports activities affect cognitive, perceptual, and physiological domains, possibly concurring in reducing pain perception and anxiety. Within a framework for a new socio-ecological narrative that considers opposition (such as fighting) and collaboration (cooperative learning) as carriers of self-control and pain perception inhibition, we investigated the acute effects of a judo-specific session on cognitive (inhibitory control and simple reaction time), perceptual (pain and fatigue), affective (anxiety) and physiological (hormone profile) domains. Eleven male black belt judokas (age 39.0 ± 13.9 years; training experience: 23.2 ± 14.4 years) were recruited and tested before and after judo randori and resting sessions. Inhibitory control and simple reaction time were assessed via the Flanker task and clinical reaction time test, pain and fatigue were assessed using Borg’s category-ratio scale (CR-10), and the state–trait anxiety inventory Y-1 test assessed anxiety. Glucose, insulin, cortisol, creatinine, and irisin levels were measured. Cognitive performance, perception of fatigue and physiological variables increased after randori bouts, while pain decreased. Inhibitory control, perception of pain, perception of fatigue and glucose, cortisol, and creatinine significantly differed (p < 0.05) between randori and resting sessions. A high-intensity randori may induce acute beneficial effects on cognitive, perceptual, and physiological domains. Further studies should compare the results with the outcomes from a collaborative and non-agonist environment and confirm the socio-ecologic framework.