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- Dry-land strength and conditioning for prepubertal and peripubertal swimmersPublication . Amaro, Nuno; Marinho, Daniel; Marques, MC; Batalha, Nuno; Morouço, PedroSwimming success depends on several factors. The ability to apply in-water force is crucial, particularly in short distances (13,15). Among others methodologies, dry-land strength and conditioning training is a common practice in competitive swimming. [...]
- Reliability of Tethered Swimming Evaluation in Age Group SwimmersPublication . Amaro, Nuno; Marinho, Daniel; Batalha, Nuno; Marques, MC; Morouço, PedroThe aim of the present study was to examine the reliability of tethered swimming in the evaluation of age group swimmers. The sample was composed of 8 male national level swimmers with at least 4 years of experience in competitive swimming. Each swimmer performed two 30 second maximal intensity tethered swimming tests, on separate days. Individual force-time curves were registered to assess maximum force, mean force and the mean impulse of force. Both consistency and reliability were very strong, with Cronbach's Alpha values ranging from 0.970 to 0.995. All the applied metrics presented a very high agreement between tests, with the mean impulse of force presenting the highest. These results indicate that tethered swimming can be used to evaluate age group swimmers. Furthermore, better comprehension of the swimmers ability to effectively exert force in the water can be obtained using the impulse of force.
- A systematic review on dry-land strength and conditioning training on swimming performancePublication . Amaro, Nuno; Morouço, Pedro; Marques, MC; Batalha, Nuno; Neiva, Henrique; Marinho, DanielObjectives. — The objective of this review was to examine the effects of dry-land strength and conditioning (S&C) training on swimming, and starts and turns performances. News. — S&C training is a common practice in swimming aiming to enhance performance or to prevent injuries. However, studies regarding the effects of S&C on swimming performance are scarce; the influence of age, gender or competitive level is even scarcer. Prospects and projects. — After a structured literature search, sixteen studies were included in the current review. Of those, seven did not report any positive or negative effects on swimming performance. Contrarily, most studies with positive effects were conducted with older swimmers whereas maximal strength was the most effective methodology for improving swimming performance. S&C plyometric training is suggested to be the most effective method to improve starts and turns. Future Randomized Controlled Trials should be conducted to explore the effects of S&C induced by age and gender, on different swimming distances and techniques, and long-term training effects. Conclusion. — It is recommended that S&C training should be based on maximal strength, ranging from six to twelve weeks of 2 to 4 sessions per week (approximately 24 sessions altogether). In each session, coaches should vary from 2 to 3 sets and 3 to 5 repetitions, according to prescribed intensity. Rest intervals should range between 2 to 5 minutes and the intensity should be from 80 to 90% of 1RM. Particularly regarding improving starts and turns, a S&C training regime ranging from 6 to 8 weeks and with 2 sessions per week is suggested. In each session, swimmers should perform between 1 and 6 sets and 1 and 10 repetitions, according to the established intensity. Rest between sets should range from 60 to 90 seconds. The swimmers in the included studies are mostly men which do not allow to say if the recommendations made are gender-dependent.
- Biomechanical and bioenergetical evaluation of swimmers using fully-tethered swimming: A qualitative reviewPublication . Amaro, Nuno; Morouço, Pedro; Marques, MC; Fernandes, Ricardo J.; Marinho, DanielIt is presented a qualitative review of the specialized literature on fully-tethered swimming, with the scopes of summarizing and highlighting published knowledge, identifying its gaps and limitations, and motivate future research. The major research conclusions can be summarized as follows: (i) tethered swimming is a reliable test to evaluate force exerted in water by swimmers; (ii) higher maximum values of force are obtained in breaststroke and butterfly, while average values are higher in front crawl; (iii) tethered forces present moderate to strong relationships with swimming velocity, and associations between forces diminish as swimming distance increases; (iv) 30 s maximal tethered swimming may be used as an adaptation of Wingate test for swimming; (v) differences in stroke mechanics can occur in tethered swimming but there is no evidence to suggest that they affect swimming performance; (vi) Tethered swimming is a valid methodology to evaluate aerobic energy contribution in swimming and recent investigations concluded that it can also provide information on the anaerobic contribution. Based on and stimulated by current knowledge, further research should focus on the following topics: (i) the usefulness of tethered swimming as a valid tool to evaluate other swimming techniques; (ii) differences in force parameters induced by gender or competitive level; (iii) defining accurate variables for estimation of anaerobic power and/or capacity using tethered swimming; (iv) bilateral asymmetries in exerted forces, and corresponding influence of breathing; (v) relative contribution of arms and legs for whole-body propelling forces.
- Effects of Dry-Land Strength and Conditioning Programs in Age Group SwimmersPublication . Amaro, Nuno; Marinho, Daniel; Marques, MC; Batalha, Nuno; Morouço, PedroAmaro, NM, Marinho, DA, Marques, MC, Batalha, N, and Morouço, PG. Effects of dry-land strength and conditioning programs in age group swimmers. J Strength Cond Res 31(9): 2447-2454, 2017-Even though dry-land S&C training is a common practice in the context of swimming, there are countless uncertainties over its effects in performance of age group swimmers. The objective was to investigate the effects of dry-land S&C programs in swimming performance of age group swimmers. A total of 21 male competitive swimmers (12.7 ± 0.7 years) were randomly assigned to the Control group (n = 7) and experimental groups GR1 and GR2 (n = 7 for each group). Control group performed a 10-week training period of swim training alone, GR1 followed a 6-week dry-land S&C program based on sets and repetitions plus a 4-week swim training program alone and GR2 followed a 6-week dry-land S&C program focused on explosiveness, plus a 4-week program of swim training alone. Results for the dry-land tests showed a time effect between week 0 and week 6 for vertical jump (p < 0.01) in both experimental groups, and for the GR2 ball throwing (p < 0.01), with moderate to strong effect sizes. The time × group analyses showed that for performance in 50 m, differences were significant, with the GR2 presenting higher improvements than their counterparts (F = 4.156; p = 0.007; (Equation is included in full-text article.)= 0.316) at week 10. Concluding, the results suggest that 6 weeks of a complementary dry-land S&C training may lead to improvements in dry-land strength. Furthermore, a 4-week adaptation period was mandatory to achieve beneficial transfer for aquatic performance. Additional benefits may occur if coaches plan the dry-land S&C training focusing on explosiveness.
- Strength & Conditioning and swimming performancePublication . Amaro, Nuno Miguel Pires Alves; Marinho, Daniel Almeida; Morouço, Pedro Gil FradeThe ability to apply force is crucial in competitive swimming, particularly in short distances. Accordingly, literature has shown that high values of upper-body strength and power are determinant to succeed in competitive swimming. Thus, dry-land Strength and Conditioning (S&C) is a common practice in swimming prescription in order to improve performance or prevent injuries. Nevertheless, research over the effects of S&C training in swimming performance is scarce and far from consensus. The main purpose of this thesis was to analyze the effect of S&C training programs on swimming performance in age group swimmers. Additionally, the reliability of tethered swimming evaluation with age group swimmers was verified, as a methodology to evaluate S&C training effects in swimming performance. For the accomplishment of these purposes the following sequence was used: (i) reviewing the available literature; (ii) examination of the reliability of tethered swimming evaluation; (iii) analyzing the effects of S&C programs in dry-land strength and swimming performance; (iv) proposing a practical S&C program to swimming prescription. The main conclusions drawn were: (i) there is limited research on S&C training effects in competitive swimming and the existent was mainly conducted with older and experienced swimmers; (ii) tethered swimming is a reliable test to evaluate force exerted in water by swimmers familiarized with the test; (iii) tethered swimming evaluations throughout the season may allow coaches to control swimmers’ ability to exert inwater force and evaluate the effects of S&C training programs, in age group swimmers; (iv) 6 weeks of a complementary S&C training allow improvements in dry-land strength, in age group swimmers; (v) a 4-week adaptation period is suggested to allow transferability of S&C improvements to swimming performance; (vi) explosiveness should be the goal of S&C training in order to allow swimming performance enhancement in short distance swimming, with age group swimmers. These findings can be used by coaches and researches as a starting point to future S&C training programs in age group swimmers.
- A relação entre performance em natação e variáveis de força em secoPublication . Amaro, Nuno Miguel Pires Alves; Marinho, Daniel AlmeidaEste trabalho apresenta uma revisão em torno das questões das manifestações de força em seco e sua relação com a performance de nado. Adicionalmente, foi realizado um estudo piloto para avaliação de procedimentos e metodologias a utilizar em situação de avaliação e controlo de treino. Da revisão da literatura é possível verificar que poucos são os estudos existentes que demonstrem a importância de um programa de treino em seco como complementar ao treino em água. São detetadas algumas limitações nesses estudos com o sentido de fomentar futuras investigações: amostra reduzida e /ou heterogénea; avaliação de força máxima em detrimento da força de potência; inexistência de período de adaptação aos ganhos musculares para maior performance em água. Para o estudo piloto foram avaliadas 9 nadadoras de nível nacional (15.7 ± 1.5 anos; 55.4 ± 6.1 kg; 161.6 ± 7.2 cm; recorde pessoal nos 50 m Livres de 30.5 ± 2.2 s). Foram medidas a potência máxima e média no exercício de agachamento, a altura no salto com contra-movimento, e a força máxima e média do nado amarrado só com utilização dos membros inferiores. Foram detetadas fortes correlações entre os parâmetros do agachamento e as forças em nado amarrado e com a performance de nado. Adicionalmente, foi percetível uma correlação forte entre a força média produzida pelos membros inferiores em nado amarrado e o recorde pessoal nos 50 m Livres, indicando a relevância que a ação dos membros inferiores tem na performance em nado livre de curtas distâncias e altas intensidades. A metodologia utilizada permitiu obter parâmetros associados entre testes feitos em seco e em água, revelando ser adequada para o controlo e avaliação de nadadores.