On 11 th March of this year, The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared that COVID-19 is an infection produced by the SARS-CoV-2 virus with a wide range of symptoms ranging from mild to severe illness as a pandemic. Social interaction has been collapsing.
Now, we understand that we need to fight with this virus as well as the situation by maintaining “2 gaz ki doori”, mandatory downloading Arogya Setu mobile application, avoid usage of air conditioners (AC) at training venues, no handshakes or sparring or high-five, completely testing for COVID-19 infection and if the result is positive then a 14-days self quarantine thereafter.
What will be the next step during the time of new normal? We are facing this question several times. Frankly speaking, it is a challenge to defeat COVID-19. Every one of us should create a defence mechanism by ourselves independently. It will be more challenging in sports.
Categorising the sports we can easily find four different segments in terms of contacts.
Category A: Non-Contact Sports – Badminton, Lawn Tennis, Table Tennis, Shooting, Cycling, weightlifting, Athletics, Fencing, Archery.
Category B: Minimal-Contact Sports – Football, Hockey, Volleyball, Basketball and Handball.
Category C: Full-Contact Sports – Wrestling, Boxing, Judo, Karate, Taekwondo and Wushu.
Category D: Water Sports – Swimming, Canoeing, Sailing, Rowing etc.
Football is the most common sports and a major involving sport for all over the world. It is well known that the long term detraining due to COVID-19 affecting personal practice and practice games.
Professional athletes have been unable to train as usual during home confinement, and it is thought that they will have to return to sports competition in most countries once the risk of infection has been adequately reduced. The loss of which recently happens in reduction of enduring capacities and also loss of muscle strength and mass. Even to the reduction of aerobic capacity impair general performance only; this should not be a serious issue in its own self, as all the athletics competing will be in the same condition. However the problem starts when we tent to restart
the competitive season because the muscular ten dent conditions. In an specific Eight weeks of detraining for an elite footballer they lose muscle mass, strength, power and it has shown that they had decrease in EMG reflecting reduce muscle activation as well. Such a reduction in muscle activity could significant increase of risk of injuries. Both in contact as well as non contact sports.
Most importantly this having detraining period ten dents and structure show properties and alterations in the tissue organisation leading to imbalances, possible degenerative changes, as well as physical impairments leading to increased pain and fatigue, reduction in joint flexibility and muscle strength. It has been scene that the first event which started after
COVID situation, it was the NFA league in US in which almost episode of ten dent injuries in high level professionals where unprecedented in numbers. Unfortunately these injuries are career ending or career altering in nature.
The retraining phase should begin with a basic but broad-spectrum assessment of players’ physical condition (power, endurance, joint mobility and body composition). The football- specific tests should be the foundation for development of strategies for injury prevention and physical readaptation of players. Due to the large differences in training routines performed during the confinement, this phase should be individualised, particularly for those players who have tested positive for COVID-19 during
Confinement or for those who have suspicious symptoms.
However, drastic measures shall be taken to avoid contact with no competitive games being played. Personal equipment such as gloves, face musk, mouth guard, shin guard, wrist band, head band, shoes etc. Shall be used without sharing.
Once the intended outcomes of the retraining phase have been achieved, players should be advanced towards a football-specific performance phase, including specific objectives of power, endurance, high-intensity intermittent exercise capacity and speed. It is highly important that players are progressively exposed to training games during this phase. The organisation and types of exercises recommended for each phase, and references for optimal load management during each training phase.
