Evaluating the Asymmetry of Muscle Activation and Strength in Paralympic Powerlifting Athletes

• Main Authors: Leonardo dos Santos (Author), Felipe J. Aidar (Author), Rafael Luiz Mesquita Souza (Author), Dihogo Gama de Matos (Author), Stefania Cataldi (Author), Gianpiero Greco (Author), Márcio Getirana-Mota (Author), Anderson Carlos Marçal (Author), Lucio Marques Vieira Souza (Author), Jymmys Lopes dos Santos (Author), Paulo Francisco de Almeida-Neto (Author), Breno Guilherme de Araújo Tinoco Cabral (Author), Georgian Badicu (Author), Hadi Nobari (Author), Raphael Frabrício de Souza (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: MDPI AG, 2023-09-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 10.3390/ejihpe13090119; 2254-9625; 2174-8144
• Keywords: disabled persons; asymmetry; force; paralympic sports; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Psychology; BF1-990
• Source: European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, Vol 13, Iss 9, Pp 1645-1654 (2023)

Background: Strength training is a complex task, as it requires a combination of many variables. In paralympic powerlifting (PP) asymmetries for the evaluation of activation, and static force indicators have been increasingly studied. Objective: To investigate the asymmetries in the strength and muscle activation indicators, before and after a training session of PP athletes. Methodology: Twelve elite athletes from the PP participated in the study, and asymmetry was evaluated through surface electromyography (sEMG) and static strength indicators. Evaluations were made before and after a protocol of five series of five repetitions (5 × 5), with 80% of 1-Maximum Repetition (1RM). Results: In the pectoral muscles, there were differences in the non-dominant limbs between the before and after in the sEMG. There were differences in the pectoralis muscle in the non-dominant limb between moments before (110.75 ± 59.52%) and after (130.53 ± 98.48%, <i>p</i> < 0.001), and there was no difference in triceps activation. In the Maximum Isometric Strength (MIF), there was a difference in the non-dominant limb between before (710.36 ± 129.36) and after (620.27 ± 69.73; <i>p</i> < 0.030). There was a difference before in the dominant (626.89 ± 120.16; 95% CI 550.55-703.24) and non-dominant (710.36 ± 129.36; <i>p</i> = 0.011) limbs. There was no difference in time to MIF. Conclusion: PP athletes showed small levels of asymmetry before and after training, and adaptation to training tends to promote fewer asymmetries.