Effects of Wobble Board Aquatic Exercise on Balance and Explosive Power in Young Adults

Vadba v vodi se uporablja tako v rehabilitaciji kot tudi pri treningu vrhunskih športnikov. Jasnih metod in sredstev za uporabo takšne vadbe v praksi ni, saj mehanizmov delovanja ne znamo enoznačno pojasniti. Praktična vrednost takšne vadbe je kljub temu velika, ker z vajami ravnotežja vplivamo na prilagoditve v gibalnem nadzoru tako na senzoričnem kot tudi motoričnem nivoju. V nalogi nas je zanimalo, kakšni so učinki vadbe ravnotežja, če jo izvajamo v dveh različnih okoljih, v vodi ali na kopnem. Glavni cilj magistrske naloge je bil preveriti učinke senzomotorične vadbe v vodi in na kopnem. Preverjali smo vplive na statično ravnotežje, dinamično ravnotežje in odrivno moč. V ta namen je v raziskavi sodelovalo 31 merjencev, ki so bili naključno razdeljeni v tri skupine. Ena skupina je izvajala vadbo na kopnem (KOP), druga skupina vadbo v vodi (VOD), tretja skupina pa je služila kot kontrola (KON). Teste smo izvedli pred in po 7-tedenskem protokolu vadbe na ravnotežni deskah. Statično ravnotežje smo merili s pomočjo merjenja centra pritiska (SP) na tenziometrični plošči. Dinamično ravnotežje smo merili s pomočjo Y testa dinamičnega ravnotežja, za testa odrivne moči pa smo uporabili skok iz polčepa (SJ) in skok z nasprotnim gibanjem (CMJ). Za parametre smo izračunali normalnost porazdelitve in homogenosti varianc. Za preverjanje učinkov faktorja vadbe znotraj skupin smo uporabili T-test za odvisne vzorce, za preverjanje faktorjev vadbe skupaj s faktorjem skupine pa smo uporabili analizo kovariance (ANCOVA), saj so bili povprečni rezultati testov pred vadbo statistično značilno različni med skupinami. V primeru izračunane statistične značilnosti smo uporabili LSD post-hoc test. Statistično značilne spremembe znotraj skupin smo zasledili pri merjenju statičnega ravnotežja z odprtimi očmi pri skupini, ki je vadila v vodi. Izboljšanje v dinamičnem ravnotežju po vadbi smo izračunali pri skupini KOP. Pri odrivni moči smo izboljšanje po vadbi zasledili tako pri KOP kot pri VOD. Analiza kovariance kljub temu ni pokazala statistično značilnih sprememb pri statičnem in dinamičnem ravnotežju za faktorja vadbene intervencije in skupine. Statistično značilne razlike smo zasledili pri odrivni moči, in sicer pri CMJ, med skupinama KOP in KON ter pri SJ, med skupinama VOD in KON. Razlike pri CMJ so se nakazovale med skupinama VOD in KON. V raziskavi smo ugotovili, da je imela vadbena intervencija, ne glede na to, ali smo vadili na kopnem ali v vodi, vpliv zgolj na odrivno moč. Mogoče je, da je vadba vplivala na izboljšanje medmišične in znotrajmišične koordinacije v kolenskem in skočnem sklepu. Do izboljšanja pri odrivni moči je morda prišlo tudi zaradi izboljšanja refleksnih odzivov. Učinkov na statično in dinamično ravnotežje nismo zasledili, ko smo upoštevali faktorja vadbe in skupine. Iz tega lahko sklepamo, da naša vadbena intervencija ni imela vpliva na ravnotežje. Ker značilnih razlik med KOP in VOD nismo zasledili pri nobenem testu, domnevamo, da so učinki vadbe za ravnotežje v vodi podobni učinkom vadbe na kopnem. Zaključimo lahko, da je senzomotorično vadbo v vodi smiselno uporabljati v zgodnji fazi rehabilitacije in kot sredstvo kondicijske vadbe pri vrhunskih športnikih, predvsem za razvoj odrivne moči. Rezultati naše študije kažejo, da takšna oblika vadbe ne daje vpliva na statično in dinamično ravnotežje pri odraslih, treniranih posameznikih. Študija po drugi strani odpira možnost raziskovanja vplivov vadbe pri populacijah poškodovancev in starostnikov, pri katerih je ravnotežje moteno oz. porušeno. Upoštevati moramo, da ima opravljena študija tudi določene omejitve. Vadba je trajala zgolj 7 tednov z dokaj majhno količino. Hkrati pri začetnem in končnem testiranju nismo uporabili specifičnega testa, ki bi nam najbolje pokazal specifične učinke vadbe. Eden izmed motečih dejavnikov je bil tudi majhen vzorec merjencev in izbor testov, ki so bili očitno premalo občutljivi.Aquatic exercise is used not only in rehabilitation, but in training of high-performance athletes as well. There are no clear methods or means for operating with such exercise, because their mechanisms cannot be unambiguously explained. The practical values of this kind of exercise are, nevertheless, great – with balance-based workouts we influence the adjustments of motion control on a sensory and motor level. The purpose of the paper was to discover the effects of a balance-based exercise in two different environments – in water and on land. The main goal was to test the effects of a sensorimotor exercise in both environments. Static balance, dynamic balance and jumping power were all taken into consideration during the research. The research included 31 subjects, who were randomly divided into three groups. The first group performed an exercise programme on land (KOP), the second did the aquatic exercise (VOD), and the third group was used as the control one (KON). The tests were executed before and after a seven-week balance board exercise protocol. Static balance was assessed by measuring the pressure centre with a tensiometric board, dynamic balance was measured by the Y-test of dynamic balance, and jumping power was tested with squat jump (SJ) and counter-movement jump (CMJ). Normality and homogeneity of variances were calculated for the establishment of the parameters. To assess the effects of the factor of exercise within the groups, a T-test for dependent samples was usedalso, a covariance analysis (ANCOVA) was used to assess the factor of the exercise together with the factor of the group, because the median results of the tests were statistically significantly different between the groups. In case of a statistical significance, an LSD post-hoc test was used. Statistically significant changes within the group were discovered when measuring open-eyed static balance of the aquatic exercise group. An improvement after the dynamic balance exercise was discovered in the KOP group. Jumping power, however, was improved both in the KOP and VOD group. Nevertheless, the covariance analysis did not present statistically significant changes of static and dynamic balance when considering the factor of exercise intervention and the group factor. Statistically significant changes were detected in jumping power, namely in CMJ between the KOP and KON groups, and SJ between the VOD and KON groups. Some differences in CMJ were also shown between the VOD and KON groups. In the research, it was found that the exercise intervention influences only the explosive power, regardless of it being performed on land or as an aquatic exercise. It is possible that the exercise helped improve intramuscular and intermuscular coordination in the knee and ankle. The improvement in jumping power could also be credited to the improvement of the reflex excitation. When considering the factors of the exercise and the group, no effects on the static and dynamic balance were found. Therefore, it can be deduced that the exercise intervention had no effect on balance. Because there were no significant differences between the KOP and VOD groups in any of the tests, it can be assumed that the effects of the aquatic exercise are similar to effects of exercises performed on land. It can be concluded that aquatic sensorimotor exercise is reasonable to use in early stages of rehabilitation and also as a means of condition training of high-performance athletes, namely for the development of jumping power. The results of our study indicate that this kind of exercise does not influence static and dynamic balance in trained, adult individuals. However, the study opens up possibilities of further exploration of the effects of exercise in the elderly as well as the injured population, because of their disrupted balance. It also must be taken into account that the study has its limitations. The exercise programme lasted for only seven weeks. Likewise, a specific test was not used at the beginning and the end of the testing, thus we can not present the actual results of the exercise in specific task. Other disruptive factors were also the small number of participants and the selection of tests, which seemed not to have been sensitive enough