{"title":"The Influence of a Supervised and Unsupervised Strength and Conditioning Program for Elite Adolescent Freestyle Swimmers","authors":"Stuart Evans, Daniel Gahreman","doi":"10.53520/rdsp2023.10594","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Introduction: Adolescent high school swimmers, aged 13-16 years, are an athletic population that can benefit from a strength and conditioning (S&C) program which caters for their developmental and sports-specific needs. The aim of this case study was to analyze the adherence to and subsequent effect of a short-term (12-week) combined supervised and unsupervised S&C program in elite adolescent swimmers during a competitive season. Methods: Seven elite adolescent swimmers (4 females, 3 males) completed the study (age: 15.2 ± 0.5 years; mass: 64.5 ± 5.1 kg; stature: 1.76 ± 0.07 m). The participants were required to adhere to one supervised S&C session and two unsupervised S&C sessions per week that were performed on non-consecutive days while maintaining their traditional swimming training schedules. The unsupervised component was delivered digitally with participant feedback monitored. The S&C program consisted of upper- and lower limbs exercises with low loads and low volume as well as bodyweight exercise. Adherence to both programs was measured by attendance with correlational analysis conducted from total S&C program adherence to swim performance. The effect of the S&C training protocol was assessed using performance time pre and post the S&C intervention during the 50-m freestyle swim. Results: The S&C training program intervention resulted in significant improvements in the 50-m freestyle swim (p < 0.001, d = >1). Total adherence to the supervised and unsupervised parts of the S&C program was 88% while adherence to the digital only component was 76%. Although a correlation was observed between total adherence to the combined supervised and unsupervised S&C program (r = 0.8, p = 0.0243) and improved 50 m freestyle swim performance, this was not the case when the unsupervised component was compared to swim time performance (r = 0.4, p = 0.679). Conclusions: This case study demonstrated that a 12-week S&C intervention has a positive effect on elite adolescents’ 50 m freestyle swim performance. Furthermore, swim performance was improved when participant adherence to both formats of the S&C program were met. This study supports the development of S&C interventions to develop these correlates and increase adherence.","PeriodicalId":332159,"journal":{"name":"Research Directs in Strength and Performance","volume":" 21","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2023-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Research Directs in Strength and Performance","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.53520/rdsp2023.10594","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Introduction: Adolescent high school swimmers, aged 13-16 years, are an athletic population that can benefit from a strength and conditioning (S&C) program which caters for their developmental and sports-specific needs. The aim of this case study was to analyze the adherence to and subsequent effect of a short-term (12-week) combined supervised and unsupervised S&C program in elite adolescent swimmers during a competitive season. Methods: Seven elite adolescent swimmers (4 females, 3 males) completed the study (age: 15.2 ± 0.5 years; mass: 64.5 ± 5.1 kg; stature: 1.76 ± 0.07 m). The participants were required to adhere to one supervised S&C session and two unsupervised S&C sessions per week that were performed on non-consecutive days while maintaining their traditional swimming training schedules. The unsupervised component was delivered digitally with participant feedback monitored. The S&C program consisted of upper- and lower limbs exercises with low loads and low volume as well as bodyweight exercise. Adherence to both programs was measured by attendance with correlational analysis conducted from total S&C program adherence to swim performance. The effect of the S&C training protocol was assessed using performance time pre and post the S&C intervention during the 50-m freestyle swim. Results: The S&C training program intervention resulted in significant improvements in the 50-m freestyle swim (p < 0.001, d = >1). Total adherence to the supervised and unsupervised parts of the S&C program was 88% while adherence to the digital only component was 76%. Although a correlation was observed between total adherence to the combined supervised and unsupervised S&C program (r = 0.8, p = 0.0243) and improved 50 m freestyle swim performance, this was not the case when the unsupervised component was compared to swim time performance (r = 0.4, p = 0.679). Conclusions: This case study demonstrated that a 12-week S&C intervention has a positive effect on elite adolescents’ 50 m freestyle swim performance. Furthermore, swim performance was improved when participant adherence to both formats of the S&C program were met. This study supports the development of S&C interventions to develop these correlates and increase adherence.